{"id":17965,"date":"2024-05-16T16:52:14","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T16:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sandler.com\/?p=17965"},"modified":"2024-07-19T05:00:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T05:00:08","slug":"qualifying-hard-closing-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/qualifying-hard-closing-easy\/","title":{"rendered":"Qualifying Hard, Closing Easy: The Sandler Pain Step (and Why Your Team Isn&#8217;t Completing It)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At Sandler, we teach and relentlessly reinforce a simple principle, an impossible-to-forget idea that carries massive implications for optimal revenue production: <strong>qualify, hard, close easy. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One of the big problems we see, though, is that people sometimes <em>imagine <\/em>they\u2019re qualifying hard, but aren\u2019t. Why not? Because they aren\u2019t completing a non-negotiable element of qualification: qualifying the potential buyer\u2019s Pain, with a capital P. If we haven\u2019t done that, we have no place making any formal recommendation or presentation to the buyer. And, as a result, we can\u2019t expect to close easily.<\/p>\n<p>When we qualify effectively for Pain, what are we doing? We\u2019re clarifying, in emotional, practical terms that resonate <em>for the buyer, <\/em>exactly what <em>all <\/em>the potential costs are for not taking action on a problem that\u2019s keeping them from getting where they need to go next in their world.<\/p>\n<p>One of our most famous tools for clarifying the emotional impact of those costs is known as the Sandler Pain Funnel. It\u2019s a powerful series of questions that looks like this:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Tell me more about that\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Can you be more specific? Give me an example.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">How long has that been a problem?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">What have you tried to do about that?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">And did that work?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">How much do you think that has cost you?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">How do you feel about that?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Have you given up trying to deal with the problem?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_79_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/qualifying-hard-closing-easy\/#Make_no_mistake_The_Sandler_Pain_Funnel_is_a_game-changing_tool\" >Make no mistake: The Sandler Pain Funnel is a game-changing tool.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Make_no_mistake_The_Sandler_Pain_Funnel_is_a_game-changing_tool\"><\/span>Make no mistake: The Sandler Pain Funnel is a game-changing tool.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There\u2019s a reason this iconic sequence of questions has remained famous, and widely used, by top-performing sellers for as long as it has.\u00a0 Sales professionals trained in the Sandler methodology have been using this powerful interviewing model for more than a half-century now \u2013 because it works! It does the job. It uncovers Pain, with a capital P. But here\u2019s the problem: it does not, in and of itself, <em>finalize <\/em>the Pain step.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, even sales teams who have been trained and reinforced in the Sandler method sometimes forget that.<\/p>\n<p>They don\u2019t <em>continue <\/em>the conversation, in the spirit of the Pain Funnel, by walking, hand-in-hand with the buyer, down the unique, impossible-to-predict-ahead-of-time alleyways of a particular business challenge. In short: they don\u2019t connect the dots. They skip the important action item of leading the conversation with the buyer toward a <strong>clear, quantifiable, monetary cost,<\/strong> in both the long term and the short term, for leaving the problem that\u2019s just been identified unsolved.<\/p>\n<p>The Sandler Pain step is not complete until they do that!<\/p>\n<p>Qualifying without qualifying for the short-term and long-term monetary impact is not qualifying hard. It\u2019s a recipe for failure. Once we complete the Sandler Pain Funnel, <em>our job is not over!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>That means that after we \u201ccomplete\u201d the Pain Funnel (notice the quote marks; nothing is actually complete yet!) we need to move out on our own. We need to take a look around, evaluate what\u2019s been uncovered and what hasn\u2019t, and be ready to <em>continue <\/em>the conversation with <em>monetization-focused <\/em>Pain questions.<\/p>\n<p>These are going to vary dramatically depending on the situation, which means that, unlike the situation where we deploy the Pain Funnel questions to <em>begin <\/em>the Pain convesation, there is no one simple template we can follow in this situation. We have to use our heads; we have to collaborate in real-time with the buyer in a way that reinforces what we\u2019ve learned and makes them feel listened to. We can\u2019t use a checklist. This is not a checklist-driven part of the conversation. But it\u2019s vitally important.<\/p>\n<p>All that having been said, here\u2019s a quick list of the <em>kinds <\/em>of questions we <em>may <\/em>come up with when we ask monetization-focused Pain questions. Let me emphasize, though, that this is not a checklist. Take a look.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>I\u2019ve been taking some notes. Based on what you\u2019ve said, here are the five things you just said are causing big problems for you. You know your world a lot better than I do. Is this everything on the list?<\/strong> If not, you\u2019ve got more Pain to uncover.<\/li>\n<li><strong>(For each item:) If we turned that into hard dollars, what do you figure that cost you over the past year? Let\u2019s do the math.<\/strong> Do the math! Together!<\/li>\n<li><strong>How about over the next (three months)? (Or whatever the relevant timeframe is.) Let\u2019s do the math on that.<\/strong> Again: Do the math! Together!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Let\u2019s also look at (cost of ownership, return on investment, risk mitigation \u2013 whatever metric your buyer responds to and needs to quantify for himself\/herself <em>and, <\/em>ideally a higher-up.) <\/strong>Do the math on this, too \u2026 side by side.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now here comes the big question. Given that we teach this at Sandler \u2026 we reinforce this relentlessly at Sandler \u2026 and we practice this relentlessly at Sandler, because yes, we\u2019re salespeople, too \u2026 <em>why do so many of the sales teams we work with routinely skip this step? <\/em>Why is this critical part of the qualification for Pain left incomplete at so many organizations, even though the teams \u201cknow what to do\u201d?<\/p>\n<p>The answer is as simple as it is fixable: <em>Head trash.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you or someone on your team has been trained and reinforced in the Sandler methodology, but you\u2019re not qualifying for Pain with monetization-focused Pain questions, there\u2019s only one item at the top of the list of likely explanations: something in your personal history has left you with one or more dysfunctional personal beliefs when it comes to talking openly about money with buyers. Please read that again: <em>the problem is a dysfunctional personal belief, built into your \u201coperating system,\u201d when it comes to talking with buyers about money.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more articles in the <a href=\"\/category\/advisor\/\">Sandler Advisor<\/a>, our quarterly e-newsletter designed to help you succeed in sales and leadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At Sandler, we teach and relentlessly reinforce a simple principle, an impossible-to-forget idea that carries massive implications for optimal revenue production: qualify, hard, close easy. One of the big problems we see, though, is that people sometimes imagine they\u2019re qualifying hard, but aren\u2019t. Why not? Because they aren\u2019t completing a non-negotiable element of qualification: qualifying&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":17966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1120],"tags":[1079,1209,1114,1115,1024,1309,1373,1105],"class_list":["post-17965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-pain","tag-pain-discovery","tag-prospect-qualification","tag-qualifying","tag-sales","tag-sales-challenges","tag-sales-pain","tag-sales-process"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Qualifying Hard, Closing Easy: The Sandler Pain Step (and Why Your Team Isn&#039;t Completing It) - Sandler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At Sandler, we teach and relentlessly reinforce a simple principle, an impossible-to-forget idea that carries massive implications for optimal revenue production: qualify, hard, close easy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/qualifying-hard-closing-easy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Qualifying Hard, Closing Easy: The Sandler Pain Step (and Why Your Team Isn&#039;t Completing It) - 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