Okay, we got the agenda and the objective of the call. What’s next?
You’ve built the rapport and ran through the agenda. Now it's time for the real work: uncovering the key business pain. Think of this moment as the bridge between your prospect’s current pain and their future goals. Your job? Show how you and Klaviyo can fill that gap.
Money follows pain
In this video, you’ll learn:
- How to distinguish technical pain from business pain.
- How to use the Situation, Problem, Implication, Need Payoff (SPIN) framework to go beyond surface-level answers.
- Why executive buyers prioritize ecosystem-wide problems, not just daily fires.
Defining pain and metrics in a Klaviyo context
Use this breakdown to separate your deal from the noise. If you don’t anchor to business pain and tie it to metrics, your solution risks sounding tactical, not strategic. Read through some common pain points, how to differentiate technical and business pain, and how to tie them to metrics.
Consolidated customer data
Technical pain: Difficult and time-consuming to pull customer segments
Business pain: Lack of visibility into the customer journey to make smart marketing investments
Suffering metrics:
- Customer lifetime value (LTV)
- Retention rates
Email and SMS under one roof
Technical pains: Juggling multiple platforms for marketing channels and duplicate discount codes
Business pain: Disjointed customer journey and inaccurate attribution
Suffering metrics:
- Improved margins
- Team efficiency / productivity
- Marketing return on investment (ROI)
Advanced segmentation and flows
Technical pain: Inflexible legacy marketing tools that require IT support
Business pain: Low loyalty program adoption and repeat purchase
Suffering metrics:
- Conversion rates
- Loyalty signups
- Total cost of ownership
The art of asking tough questions
After years of listening to top sellers and studying best practices, here is how you can go deeper on your call without sounding robotic.
Ask open and targeted impact questions
Avoid generic or shallow impact questions like:
- What impact is that having on the business?
- How is that impacting you personally?
- How much is this costing the business?
- How does that make you feel?
Use open-ended questions that unlock emotion and urgency like:
- Sounds frustrating...Tell me what happens if we fast forward 6 months and we still haven’t fixed this?
- I can see why we’re talking! Talk to me about why this wasn’t solved 6 months ago?
- Can you describe for me what's actually happening as a result?
- Could you tell me what the ripple effect of that is?
Then, you can get a little targeted:
- Sounds frustrating ...Talk to me about how that is affecting your repeat purchase rates?
- I can see why we’re talking! Can you describe how that is impacting your ability to attribute revenue to marketing efforts?
Humbling disclaimers: how to soften up a tough question
Former FBI lead international kidnapping negotiator Chris Voss knows a few things about high stakes conversations (we imagine his career pivot to sharing tips to sell software was a bit less stressful). One tactic we borrowed, and often use with the Klaviyo Sales team, is the humbling disclaimer.
Humbling disclaimers are phrases that can be used before your tough question, so that the prospect is more inclined to help you.
Here are a few examples:
- This might sound like a really obvious question…
- This might sound like a loaded question..
- This could come across as a silly question…
- I hope you don’t mind me asking this…
- This might sound a bit left field, but…
- At the risk of overstepping here…
Now, here is what a humbling disclaimer looks like with an open impact question:
- This might sound like a really obvious question…Talk to me about why this wasn’t solved 6 months ago?
- At the risk of overstepping here...how much could this be costing the business?
Here is what a humbling disclaimer looks like with a targeted impact question:
- This might seem like an obvious question, but… how is that affecting your repeat purchase rates?
- I hope this doesn’t come across as too forward, but…. how is that affecting your ability to hit revenue growth goals?
The power of the phrase, “the reason I ask”
Psychologist Ellen Langer’s famous “copy machine” study showed that people are more likely to say yes when you give them a reason, even if the reason isn’t strong.
What does that mean for you?
Adding “the reason I ask…” before a tough question makes your prospect more likely to answer openly.
Here’s how to do it:
The Reason I Ask Examples
- “Knowing the metrics impacted will help us figure out if this is worth solving”
- “I just want to ensure I’m connecting the dots correctly so I don’t waste your time.”
The Reason I Ask with open impact questions
- Question: “Can you describe how that challenge is showing up in your metrics?”
Reason I Ask:“The reason I ask is that seeing the bigger picture will help me figure out where we can make the biggest impact.” - Question: “What’s actually happening downstream because of this?”
Reason I Ask:“Understanding the ripple effects will help me identify the right places to intervene.”
The Reason I Ask with targeted impact questions
- Question: “How is this affecting your repeat purchase rates?”
Reason I Ask: “Knowing the specific metric being impacted will help me suggest solutions that move the needle.”
What do these tactics look like together?
Here are a few examples of how you can mix these tactics together to ask deep questions that dig into your prospect’s pain. The goal is to use your own voice, so do what feels most natural to you!
- “This might seem obvious, but how is this issue impacting your membership growth? I just want to make sure I’ve got the full picture so I can help..”
- “I hope I’m not overstepping, but can you walk me through what’s happening because of this? It’ll help me understand the bigger picture so we can figure out the best way to handle it.”
- “Maybe you’ve never thought about this, but what metric is being hit the hardest by this? If we know where the biggest issue is, we can zero in on fixing it."
- “I hope this doesn’t come across as too direct, but how is this making it harder to hit revenue targets? Just trying to get a sense of how urgent this is for you."
Activities: Create your own SPIN funnel and practice the art of tough questions
Here are a few templates for you to get practice using these frameworks:
- Use this template to create your own SPIN funnel. Use the persona template as a resource.
- Practice the art of asking tough questions for your next call using our template.