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title: Using questions to guide your prospect through different qualification layers
tags: [Module 7]

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tags: Module 7
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# Using questions to guide your prospect through different qualification layers

😉  Remember this? 

 ![](https://i.imgur.com/EtDXvOE.png)


The key to peeling the onion and get to the core of your prospect's problem is **asking good questions**. The better your questions, the higher the quality of your conversation will be. 

You have just learned about the importance of closed-ended and open-ended questions to control the speed of a conversation. You will now learn how to use three different kind of questions:

1. Situational questions
2. Pain questions
3. Impact questions

## Layer 1: Situational questions

As the name implies, situational questions are asked to understand your prospect's current status quo (Layer 1: FIT). It is typically used at the beginning of your discovery call to start off slow and confirm facts and background information that you have found in your research. Because of that, situational questions are mostly closed-ended questions. 

Use case: 
* Confirm facts and findings of your research (thereby showing you are prepared)
* Confirm the lead is the right fit for your company
* Assess the current situation, etc. what tools they are currently using
* Find out how much they know about their problem and potential solutions

:::info
**Practical tip:** Be careful not asking too many situational questions. Since they are close-ended, they often feel like an interrogation or "interview" to your prospect rather than a naturally flowing conversation. 

Plan for asking no more than 3-5 per every discovery call. 
:::

Situational questions at the example of Hyrise Academy:
> * How many salespeople do you currently have?
> * Have you hired career changers as SDRs before?
> * Are you looking for SDRs right now?
> * Do you already have a dedicated sales training in place?
> * Are you still VP of sales?
> * ... 

Best practice: Better than just asking situational questions like the above is adding some context showing that you did your homework. This way you immediately underscore your professionalism and credibility. 

Best practice example: 
> You: On LinkedIn I noticed that you have just opened up an office in Berlin. So you are probably lookin for German speaking SDRs, right?
> 
> Prospect: Exactly right!
> 
> You: Have you already tried conventionally recruiting channels to find German speaking talent? 
> 
> Prospect: We have, but unfortunately without any success so far.
&nbsp;

## Layer 2: Pain questions
Once you have understood your prospect's current situation and confirmed they are a fit for your company, you now want to diagnose what need(s) they really have.

For this, you are using pain questions. 

Since your goal is to find their challenges or pains and diagnose a need, you need to dig deeper asking explorative questions. This is why pain questions are open-ended. You want to make your prospect talk and focus on listening - perfect use case for open ended questions. 

Use case:
* Understand your prospect's challenges and pains
* Diagnose resulting needs

Pain questions at the example of Hyrise Academy:
> * What are your biggest challenges in terms of sales recruiting? 
> * How do you currently find junior sales talent? 
> * What does your current sales training for SDRs look like? How satisfied are you with that process?

::: info
**Practical tip:** Make sure your open ended pain questions are in the context of what you are doing. Be specific. Asking questions like "What are your current challenges?" come across as insincere and very inexperienced. They could answer in a way that has nothing to do with what you can help with. Therefore, apply some context like "What are your current challenges with finding sales talent?".
:::

&nbsp;
## Layer 3: Impact questions
Let's suppose you now have a good understanding of your prospect's current challenges and their resulting needs. You should now be able to say whether the lead is qualified. However, great SDRs (and AEs as well) go deeper by understanding the REAL motivation behind working with you. 

This is what you get by identifying the impact of action and inaction. The impact of inaction describes what the current problem(s) mean for your prospect - on a professional, financial and personal level. The impact of action describes the impact your solution may have on them like saved time, saved money, more revenue, better sleep etc. 

Impact questions lead you to the real substance, the "meat on the bone", of discovery conversations. 

Why are they so powerful? By having your prospect say out loud what the current challenges and a potential solution mean for them, they may realize the true severity of the problem for the first time as well. Also, it creates alignment for the rest of the sales process and gives you better arguments during closing stages.

Use case:
* Identify the current impact of the problem - financially, professionally, personally 
* Identify the positive impact a solution may have 
* Understand the real severity of the problem and the motivation for finding a solution

Impact questions at the example of Hyrise Academy:
> * How much are you currently spending on external recruiters?
> * How long does it take for your newly hired SDRs to be productive and reach their quota? What if that time could be cut in half? 
> * What does an unfilled SDR position mean for you - both financially and personally?
> * How much time do you currently spend on active sourcing? What could you do with the time if you didn't have to do it?

::: info
**Practical tip:** Do NOT as impact questions too early. Asking them only makes sense if and once you have diagnosed your prospect's most important problems. Only then can you ask for those problems and potential solutions mean for them. Makes sense, right?
:::

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