Problem-led selling not solution selling

Hope you're all well! This week's newsletter is a few days late—I was busy kicking off 7th cohort of Elite Sales: Win High-Value Enterprise Deals on Maven. We're running both AM and PM sessions to accommodate our diverse participants across different time zones. It's taking a lot of energy, but it's absolutely worth it!

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When it comes to any successful sales conversation, getting the order of the sales process right is key. Sales professionals often get this wrong by jumping into solution selling too early, without fully understanding the problem they’re solving.

You need to get buy-in for your idea (a need for your product or services) before you share details on what to do or how to do it (solution).

But I often notice a common mistake: Messaging that focuses too much on solutions early on, when you should still be trying to find the problem.

You don't want to spend your valuable time on opportunities that will not progress and win.

What’s the difference between focusing on problems vs solutions?

• The goal of a “finding problems” is to get your prospects or clients excited to take action.

• The goal of a “solution conversation” is to share the “how.” You have uncovered all objections and your client has already bought in.

A solution conversation assumes buy-in. But you often have less buy-in than you think. It’s easy to overestimate how much your client wants to do what you’re asking them to do.

No one cares about how your solution will fix a problem…. if they haven’t decided to take action yet.

It’s very possible that the prospects you are appealing to are not ready to take action:

• They are not sold on why this matters.

• They are not convinced why this is a priority.

• They are not sure this is worth the effort.

There’s an order of operations: Prospects and Clients are ready to take action, and only then, will they find the solutions relevant and valuable. If you’re 100% sure your prospect is ready to take action, then you can jump straight to solutions—but keep in mind, many people miscalculate this. Even when you think your prospects is on board, they may be susceptible to buyer’s remorse.

In other words, sharing solutions is premature if your prospects isn’t fully convinced.

If you skip “qualifying”, you will get frustrated by how people aren’t taking action, even though you’ve explained how to do so.

You may try to solve this problem by sharing even more solutions—even more directions on the “how.” But you’d be solving the wrong problem.

Problem-Led vs. Solution-Led Conversations

To be clear, both problem and solution conversations matter. But the timing makes all the difference.

• Problem Conversations (Qualify): The goal here is to uncover what truly matters to your prospect. These conversations focus on listening, building trust, and identifying important problems or desired results.

• Solution Conversations (Proposal): These come after the buyer has committed to taking action. Here, the objective is to show them how your solution works and why it’s the right fit to solve their problem.

Great sellers spend 90% of their time on problem conversations, qualifying needs, validating pain points, and creating value before transitioning into 10% closing and presenting solutions.

Why? Because when the problem is clear and prioritised, the solution almost sells itself.

The Cost of Skipping Qualifying Conversations

Here are the facts:

• 65% of salespeople waste time pursuing opportunities that lead to nowhere.

• 80% of deals are lost due to weak qualifying and inefficient sales processes.

If you skip the “problem-finding” phase, you risk chasing opportunities that don’t pan out or overwhelming prospects with information they aren’t ready for. Instead of bringing clarity, you may leave them confused or disengaged.

How to Master Problem-Led Selling

With problem-led selling, your conversations are structured to dig deep into your prospect’s challenges and validate their priorities.

Follow these five steps to master the process.

Step 1: Don’t Jump Straight into Solutions

Slow down. Your first job is to listen more than you talk. Understand what your clients are struggling with before mentioning your product or service.

Ask specific open-ended questions like:

"I read in your annual report that your company is actively moving away from rigid, outdated legacy IT systems toward more agile, scalable, cloud-based infrastructure.

What are the biggest challenges you’re facing during this transition?"

"What aspects of moving to cloud-based infrastructure have been the most complex?"

"What specific results or outcomes from this IT transformation would make the biggest difference for your business?"

⚠️ Don't ask

"What keeps you up at night?"

Show you have done your research and demonstrate expertise.

Step 2: Dig Deep into the Pain

Scratch beneath the surface by identifying all the client’s concerns. Sometimes the problem they vocalise isn’t the root cause. Encourage them to elaborate until you’ve unearthed the real pain points they want to address.

Here’s how:

• Show Empathy: Reflect on their frustrations and acknowledge their issues.

• Validate Feelings: Summarise what they’ve shared to show you understand.

• Confirm Details: “Is there anything else I’ve missed or overlooked?”

One of my clients took a proactive approach and successfully addressed a potential objection early by validating her prospect's feelings.

The prospect mentioned that while consultants deliver outstanding results, the engagement takes up too much of her time.

My client uncovered and resolved these concerns by asking what 'taking time' meant specifically. Instead of waiting for these issues to surface as objections during the proposal presentation, my client incorporated the time constraints into the solution—creating a better fit for the client.

Remember, a client who feels understood is much more likely to move forward and take action.

Step 3: Prioritise Their Pain Points

Once you’ve captured a list of challenges, ask the client to prioritise them. Help them determine which problem has the most impact.

You could say:

“All these challenges seem important. But if we were to focus on one right now, which would drive the biggest change for your business?”

Once you know their top concern, double down and dig deeper into that issue.

Step 4: Gather Evidence and Quantify the Impact

Next, help your client connect the problem to tangible stakes. Monetising the issue will clarify how much the problem is costing them and how much your solution could save them time and money.

Use the 5 Golden Questions Framework to guide this discovery:

1. How do you currently measure this issue?

2. What is the current state (e.g., metrics or impact)?

3. What would you like this metric to be?

4. What’s the financial impact of the difference?

5. Over time, how much value could solving this add to your business?

Monetising the problem helps your client clearly understand the value and appreciate the return on investment.

Step 5: Understand the Context and Constraints

Finally, figure out why the client hasn’t addressed the issue before. This will give you a clearer picture of the obstacles in their way, whether it’s budget, expertise, or competing priorities.

Ask VALUE questions like:

• “What’s the bigger vision here?”

• “What’s prevented your team from tackling this problem in the past?”

• “How would solving this transform your operations?”

• “How would you define success for this initiative?”

This step sets the stage for building a tailored, actionable solution that fits within their current reality.

Focus on the Problem, and the Solution Sells Itself

At its core, sales is about creating clarity for your prospects. Rushing to offer solutions without fully unpacking the problem undervalues your role as a trusted advisor.

By leading with problem conversations, you’ll set yourself apart as someone who listens and understands. This not only builds trust but also dramatically improves your chances of prospects saying “yes.”

When you solve the right problems with laser focus, solution selling becomes less of a “sell” and more of a natural progression. No hard pitch required.

Actionable Next Steps

Start practicing problem-led selling in your next client meeting. Use open-ended questions to uncover their pain points, prioritise concerns, and quantify the impact. Then, watch as meaningful conversations naturally lead to stronger buy-in.

Remember: Every great seller knows that "solutions only have value when they solve problems people care about or produce results they truly want."

What’s resonating with you? How is this making you think differently? I'd love to hear your thoughts—reply and let me know.

Thanks for being here, and I’ll see you next week.

Ren