Pain is Good

Is this guy a masochist? 

Pain is good. Not mind numbing head ache pain or the glassy joints caused by arthritis. That is bad, but the punishing pain slowing down prospects performance. This is what I mean. Many years and many deals ago, I used to open meetings with a question: "Our company provides (elevator message,) and your company provides (products or services,) how can we help you?

Fellow sales people know this: that question rocks. Yes it does.  Power point death, loaded with patronizing slides about how great your company is, beats deals to death, slide by slide just as boxers are beaten, punch by punch. Or a great sales person I know, with millions of scalps on the wall, showed up at meetings with a notepad. The meeting started with introductions and then he killer question: "Why are we here?" Collaborative meetings ensued, back and forth talk shaped issues and nudged the project team down a clear path to solving pain. 

Find the pain, smart questions are the key.