You’re going to get to the pain-problem-solution faster.

Problem: Category Creators Run Better Discovery

When creating a category, as most Unicorns do, the burden of proof falls on them.

Their expected to understand the problem better than any other future competitor.

Meaning their discovery stage is heavily invested in. They have no choice in the matter.

This impacts the sales process & makes things a lot less flexible.

Buyers who know they have a problem will meet with the category creator/market leader first.

By the time they get around to evaluating your solution, they’ve been through several discovery conversations & probably worn out by the rigid sales process.

Storytime

We’ve all been there, the dreaded ‘throw-in evaluation’ to cover the buyer’s bases. Here’s what it looks like in the wild:

Buyer:

“We’ve actually had a few talks with Gong, but Aaron mentioned looking at Pickle.”

Not what anyone wants to hear. But happens all the time.

My response:

“Aaron is always making intros, he’s been a solid customer. So you’ve likely been through a number of conversations, I’m guessing. What’s been the most insightful finding about your team that came about in talking with Gong?”

💡💡Talk about a Lightbulb Question💡💡

Buyer:

“It’s a good question, we’ve all basically come to the conclusion that we have a clear closing problem. Gong shows promise in helping me understand why.”

Boom. That answer presented an Underdog heist opportunity that would make Mark Walhberg in the 2003 Italian Job re-make shed a real tear. Let’s get into it.

Solution: Boost the Deal in Transit

“I’ve never been a part of a heist before; what does this mean?” - You & me both

In the movie, Marky Mark & his crew realized there was no way they could get past the security system of their rich target (Unicorn). So they decided to steal the money (your buyer) on the move instead.

You’re going to do something similar.

Instead of a traditional checkbox conversation, you’re focusing on discovering what your competitors have already uncovered.

It’s the fastest way to uncover the pain → problem → solution, without burning more time & receiving eye-rolls due to being their 2nd or 3rd discovery call.

Some questions to try at home:

Insights & Additional Thoughts

Thought #1 - Everyone is solving the same problems. This means you just need to solve the same problem using a different approach (i.e. cheaper, faster, easier)

Thought #2 - Insert this playbook either at the beginning or as soon as they mention your category creator competitor.

Thought #3 - Depending on the complexity of what you sell, prospects often don’t get to see a demo in the first meeting. You’re going to get to the pain-problem-solution faster because they know it. Then just demo that.

Thought #4 - Most buyers won’t tie a single-feature to a problem they face, it’s usually the holistic demo that tackles the problem. This gives you the advantage, because chances are, you aren’t as feature-rich.

Thought #5 - Does that solve the problem or add complexity? Keep coming back to the simplest form of the conversation. The problem. Most platforms have 20 functions too many.

A Question from this Week:

In reference to Newsletter #01 - Founder Magic 🪄

Q: "I don’t have a Founder close enough to the sales team that I can lean on. Any thoughts on how to replicate this?"

A: To me, this means it’s time to test the waters. No Founder? That’s okay. Test another hypothesis. ‘Pathway Forward Sync’. Bring someone from the CS side who can talk about the first 30-60-90 days as a customer. Be mindful in picking this person & make sure post-meeting they are getting a proper thank you. Ideally, you can get them pre-assigned too.