Few things hurt more than losing a client. Some you see going. They leave despite your best efforts and if nothing else, at least you had a chance to prepare and find other new prospects to plug the void.

The losses that add insult to injury are those clients who were seemingly satisfied, some very satisfied, at the time they left; those that were your "status quo" clients. Keep in mind, if your prospect to close ratio is five-to-one, you’ll need at least five new prospects with the potential to generate the same amount of revenue as the departing client. 

Keeping with the Status Quo

The concept of status quo can have limiting impacts on salespeople’s behaviours in a couple of meaningful ways. First, it gives the incumbents a potential false sense of comfort, believing these customers are satisfied, and all they need do is ensure that this perception is sustained in order to retain their customers and keep potential competitors at bay.

At the same time it can severely narrow salespeople's view of the market and potential buyers they can engage in selling. Sellers are encouraged by some so called sales "experts" to seek out buyers and “find the pain" and probe for “needs, in order to deliver a “solution." Sellers are actively told not to “bother” with “satisfied” or “status quo” buyers, who are happy with their current state, not looking, closed to alternatives, and thereby hard to sell or close.    

But then how do you explain this stat? 75% of customers who leave or switch vendors for a competitor, when asked, say they were "satisfied or completely satisfied" with the vendor they left, at the time they switched. 

Why "Satisfaction" Isn't Enough

Satisfaction is a poor indicator of salability or the propensity of buyers to act. But with a different definition of the “status quo" buyer and the seller’s willingness to reassess and reconfigure their sales approach, proactive sellers are finding success where some others are not even willing to look.  

The answer as to why so many “satisfied” customers switch long before there is even a hint of dissatisfaction has to do with how you engage a prospect, meaning what are you looking to talk to them about, and how you define value.  

Let’s quickly define value, and then how to leverage that to engage with the status quo. I like to use an actionable definition of value, specifically: "Buyers will see value in those offerings that remove barriers, obstacles, and/or help bridge GAPS between where the buyer is now and their objectives."

With that as a starting point, you can borrow from Newton’s First Law of Motion, specifically, in order to set an object that’s at rest, i.e. the satisfied client, into motion, we need to lead with objectives, not pain, needs or solutions. Objectives are by far the most powerful and positive force you can use to bring value to your customers and your company. Much more powerful than needs, pain or “solutions."

Shifting from Pain Points to Objectives 

To expand your opportunities and potential prospects, forget identifying needs, or finding the pain point, as many sellers tell me. Focus instead on the objectives of the buyer. The reason is simple. At any time, 75 to 80% of your target market does not have, perceive, recognize or acknowledge an immediate need or pain. 

Some are good at supressing or ignoring pain, especially when they know why the sellers is probing. Some moderately satisfied customers may be susceptible to “probing”; others just take an Aspirin and keep on as they were, being satisfied. Yes, some 20 to 25% of the target market does this, but that ignores the larger part and is also crowded with sales people. 

The one thing that everyone in your target market, those actively looking, passively looking and the satisfied status quo, all have, is objectives. Things they want to specifically accomplish, in a given timeframe, with defined resources and specific outcomes.

Every business owner and corporate leader has objectives and they are invested in them in a number of ways, including emotionally. Sure they may have to overcome some challenges to get there, but since they are already invested in the "there," it is easier to not only get them into motion, but to keep them in motion, and making buying decisions.  

How to Identify Buyer Objectives

It is very evident to me that those completely satisfied customers, the 75% who up and switched, did this not because a seller approached them in a lab coat, rubber gloves, and a sharp probing instrument. Rather because they were engaged by a sales professional presenting clear forward looking thinking aligned to the buyer’s objectives, while helping the prospect move towards those very objectives.

At this point many are asking "Well, how do we do that?” There are two fundamental steps. The first step is adopting a disciplined deal review process, one that looks at all (or a representative sample for larger transaction) wins, losses, and “no decision” deals. This will allow you to understand the key objectives of successful deals, which objectives were missed in lost deals, and other insights into buyer’s objectives. 

The second is to make the mental shift from dealing in pain, to dealing in outcomes and impacts tied to the buyer’s objectives. Pain is short lived, and people learn to cope. Objectives are uplifting, and people can’t get enough. It will take time and effort to make this a habit, but in light of the pay-off it is an investment worth making. 

About the Author

Tibor Shanto is a principal at Renbor Sales Solutions Inc. He is an award winning author, speaker, and B2B sales execution specialist. Shanto can be reached at tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca. Follow him on Twitter at @TiborShanto.

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