We’ve been talking about pain a lot in our recent blogs, which naturally leads us to talk about Sandler’s funnel of pain. But, first I would like to tell you a quick story:
It is 5:30 pm on a beautiful summer day. Mom listens to little five-year-old Jimmy running across the back porch. She opens the screen door and roars into the house. She jumps into the kitchen where Mom is busy making dinner. Before she can ask Jimmy if she had fun playing outside, he says, “Hey, Mommy, can I have an ice cream cone?”
His mom replies, “You can have ice cream after dinner.” The next afternoon, her mom hears Jimmy running up the stairs. She bursts into the kitchen again and asks the same question: “Can I have an ice cream cone?” Her mom says, “Jimmy, after dinner, you can have one.”
On the third day, Jimmy comes running the same way. He looks at his mom and says, “Mommy, can I…”? As soon as these words leave his mouth, he sees that look on his face. He already knows what her answer will be. So he says, “What time is dinner?” “In about 25 minutes,” she says. Jimmy says, “Okay,” and walks back out.
So you ask, “what’s the point of the story?” People are taught at a very young age not to fold all their cards, or spill the beans. Why? Because you usually don’t win if you reveal your hand too early in the game. In our story, Jimmy was driving her mother crazy with the same question every day at dinner, until he realized that she was at the boiling point and was going to be mad. Jimmy didn’t want to face the pain of making her mom mad, so he changed her question to one that would make mom happy. He avoided the pain, just like most prospects want to do when he visits.
Most people are raised to avoid revealing their true agenda in potentially difficult situations. Knowing this, we addressed this issue in Sandler’s sales process, using the patented Sandler Pain Funnel, a powerful tool used to uncover a prospect’s true agenda, or “pain.”
UNDERSTANDING THE FUNNEL OF PAIN
The Pain Funnel is a strategically organized set of questions designed to uncover a potential client’s pain. On the other hand, it might also help you discover that the prospect is not in any pain. Either way, this is good for you. Why? It allows you to qualify or disqualify the lead as a true lead. If they are in pain, then you can guide them to resolve or eliminate their pain. If not, you can shake hands and share as friends.
Before proceeding with the use of the Pain Funnel, please note that the funnel works very well on its own, but it works best when combined with other techniques we use in the Sandler Sales Process, especially with the Sandler Pain-O. -Meter and investment tools. So stay tuned for future blogs on these topics.
Again, the Pain Funnel is a series of questions used by an expert salesperson during the Pain Step, whether in a face-to-face sales call or over the phone. It includes eight pain questions designed to sequentially bring the prospect closer to sharing their true agenda or pain.
Here are the 8 questions in order:
1. “Tell me more about that…”
2. “Can you be more specific? Give me an example.”
3. “How long has this been a problem?”
4. “What have you tried to do about it?”
5. “And that worked?”
6. “How much do you think it cost you?”
7. “How do you feel about that?”
8. “Have you stopped trying to solve the problem?”
You saw earlier in Jimmy’s story how people prefer not to show their hands in front of them. Many people fear the consequences of unbridled honesty and showing their true colors. Therefore, Pain Funnel assumes that the prospect’s agenda will remain hidden and helps him bring the truth to the surface. However, you must be subtle and methodical in your approach when using the Funnel of Pain. If you push too hard too fast, chances are you’ll meet some resistance. The prospect may feel threatened or vulnerable and quickly avoid telling you the truth. So stick to the tried and true questions in the funnel along with the other techniques you learn in the Sandler System and you are sure to put your prospect at ease and guide them through discussing their real issues and pain.