Getting prospects to agree to their problem with killer discovery (Kevin “KD” Dorsey, VP Sales @ PatientPop)

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1. 1:04

   Let's get into this thing. Awesome, guys. Killer episode for disco and for cold calling. Three, two, one, roll it. KD, welcome to the show. Every single show starts with three tactical, actionable tips. Let's get your three. What's number one? Number one is you've actually got to talk to more customers. You have to talk to more customers, not prospects. “So every rep that I have, we do this onboard, and you have to talk to customers, ask them” a bunch of questions. I'm going to give you three real quick. Why did you buy the product? How would you describe what this product does for you, and what were you afraid of before buying? You'll learn a lot on how to do better scripting if you answer those three questions. What's number two?

   In New-rep onboarding

2. 2:56

   your targets? Does this mean you get ousted by your board? So how do you make that transition, especially as somebody who might not be an expert in the space? I believe in starting with the problem questions. What you were talking about is impact questions. And I also agree with you. You can't come out and just ask someone impact questions. “They don't know you and they don't trust you, but you can ask problem questions.” And the reason why is because even by asking the question, it elevates your authority. Right? If I ask you, right, you guys are hosting a podcast and let's say there was a software out there that allowed you to automatically trim the podcast and clean up the audio and it can do it quickly.

   In Problem and impact discovery

3. 3:55

   Like and that's what builds curiosity. So the problem question is what bridges the gap situational questions, I believe, or should he happen later in a discovery call later in the process, because you're wasting the prospects time you get me on the phone, and you're asking me things that you could have figured out on LinkedIn. “That's a waste of my time, you need to establish that you're even worth talking to.” One thing is that you're not asking is, your question was, how are you able to edit that episode under 15 minutes? You're not asking me how I'm able to edit my episode, period, or how do I edit? That's the difference, right? What do I want to find out how you're doing it? Yes, I do.

   In Account research checklist

4. 5:50

   better at this than men, by the way, too. We as salespeople, we ask a problem question and then we use our favorite filler words. What do a lot of reps use as filler words for answers? Someone says, oh, this is how I do it. What do we say back? Ah, yeah, cool. Good. Sweet. Beautiful. “All we just did was confirm their status quo.” you do is you intentionally downturn, again, massive amounts of curiosity. If you responded back to me and said, well, yeah, I outsource it. I go, oh, okay. I had one rep, they called it, what they call it, the bacon and eggs, called that sizzle, right? Oh, you outsource? Okay.

   In Replies and meetings

5. 12:20

   prospect to answer those questions. And again, it does establish you more as authority, right? I'm answering it. Like if you answer it and you're suggesting things that they know of, it makes you look smarter. Like, okay, he gets it. He knows what this world is like a little bit. Like, all right, we're good there. I like to reverse it. I did this in the two other ones “on a demo. I asked the problem questions first, then some of the qualification questions.” This is something Keenan and I are very aligned. If they don't have a problem, the other doesn't matter. It just doesn't. Right. And you're less likely to get the problem questions answered. If you start with budget authority, need, timing, decision-making process, like, okay, now tell me about your problems. Yeah. Okay. Not going to happen.

   In Discovery meeting structure

6. 13:03

   How do you turn the corner once you've asked one, two, three, four problem questions? Because eventually it's going to be like, well, dude, you're just making me sit here and wallow. How do you transition to the next piece of the call? Is it a pitch? Is it trying to identify why that's happening? What does that look like? “So on a cold call, you only need two problem-based” questions. Like you really do, because all you're trying to build is enough curiosity on why they should show up to a discovery or show up to a demo. Right. But the formula is very similar. And this is what I teach to my reps. It starts with, I think this might make sense.

   In Question-led cold call openers

7. 13:19

   why that's happening? What does that look like? So it depends on what call you're on. So on a cold call, you only need two problem-based questions. Like you really do, because all you're trying to build is enough curiosity on why they should show up to a discovery or show up to a demo. Right. But the formula is “It starts with, I think this might make sense.” I think this might make sense. And then here's your fill in the blanks. You're struggling with X and with Y, which is leading to Z. My company solves it by ABC.

   In Call scripts and talk tracks

8. 13:19

   why that's happening? What does that look like? So it depends on what call you're on. So on a cold call, you only need two problem-based questions. Like you really do, because all you're trying to build is enough curiosity on why they should show up to a discovery or show up to a demo. Right. But the formula is “It starts with, I think this might make sense.” I think this might make sense. And then here's your fill in the blanks. You're struggling with X and with Y, which is leading to Z. My company solves it by ABC.

   In Relevance-led cold call openers

9. 13:30

   on why they should show up to a discovery or show up to a demo. Right. But the formula is very similar. And this is what I teach to my reps. It starts with, I think this might make sense. I think this might make sense. And then here's your fill in the blanks. “You're struggling with X and with Y, which is leading to Z. My company solves it by ABC.” We set up a time to show you how it might solve it for you. Do you have X time blank or blank? Right. Because now, right, like what's the point of the meeting? Did you catch it? What's the point of the meeting? Solve the problem. To see if we can solve the problems that we now

   In Problem and outcome framing

10. 14:25

    Two questions. I already know you're not in an ideal state. This might be worth looking into. Now, if I'm on the demo, same idea, like, okay, problem, problem. You get to dig in a little bit more because you have a little bit more time. But again, you don't do all your discovery upfront. “Save some of the discovery for the demo to keep it engaging. If you ask all your questions upfront,” not only does the prospect feel interrogated, but then all that. And this is what sales reps do all the time. What's the check-in question they ask throughout the whole demo. Does that make sense? Does that make sense? Any questions like, right? Like, no, you guys like, so how does that compare to the way you're doing it now? So earlier you told me, this is how you're doing it.

    In Discovery meeting structure

11. 21:51

    them to think about possible problems. Number two, use a slight down tone when you hear the response to that question. And so if I say I'm doing it on a spreadsheet, you might say, oh, and it gets them to lean in a little bit more. It gets them to be curious. “Number three, use bucket questions to narrow down your prospects problems so you can categorize” them into one of two areas. And then number four, use, I think this might make sense before throwing your value prop in their face. It's all about pulling one or two punches before you give your value. Nick, how can people help us out? Best way. Give us a subscription. Nothing else. Thanks for listening.

    In Needs-based segmentation