How to Sell the Problem (When They Don’t Know They Have One)

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One of the hardest sales situations is when your prospect doesn’t even realize they have a problem. They’re not actively looking for solutions, they’re not comparing vendors, and they’re not searching Google for alternatives. From their perspective, things are “fine.”

But if you sell something truly disruptive, chances are you run into this all the time. The question is: how do you create urgency when there’s no pain on the surface?

Here’s what works.

1. Start with symptoms, not the diagnosis

Telling a prospect “you have a problem” is the fastest way to trigger resistance. Nobody likes being told they’re wrong. Instead, talk about the symptoms they might already feel.

Example: instead of “your outbound is broken,” say:

• “Are your SDRs booking fewer meetings despite more activity?”
• “Do prospects stop replying after the first touch?”

Prospects recognize symptoms more easily than abstract problems. Once they nod, you can connect those symptoms to the bigger issue you solve.

2. Use data to surface blind spots

Numbers cut through denial. If you can show benchmarks or industry stats, you turn a vague “nice-to-have” into a measurable gap.

Example: “Teams your size usually convert 8–10% of outbound leads into meetings. You’re at 3%. That’s the equivalent of missing 50 meetings a quarter.”

Suddenly the problem isn’t hypothetical — it’s quantifiable.

3. Tell stories of people like them

Humans don’t learn from data alone — they learn from stories. Share case studies or mini-narratives where a similar company ignored the issue, then hit a wall.

“Last year we spoke with a SaaS founder who thought their pipeline was fine — until churn spiked because they were targeting the wrong accounts. We helped them reset their ICP and doubled retention.”

Stories let prospects see themselves without feeling attacked.

4. Reframe the cost of inaction

If the problem isn’t urgent, inaction feels safe. Your job is to show them that “doing nothing” is actually riskier than change.

You can frame it like this:

• Lost revenue: “Every month at your current conversion rate costs ~€40k in missed deals.”
• Competitor edge: “Your competitor is already running this play — that’s why they’re growing faster.”
• Future pain: “This looks small now, but in 12 months it compounds into a much bigger bottleneck.”

Fear of loss is more motivating than hope of gain.

5. Create “aha” moments with questions

Instead of pitching, ask questions that lead them to self-discover the gap. This is consultative selling at its best.

Examples:

• “How much time does your team spend cleaning lead data every week?”
• “What would happen if that manual process failed during your busiest quarter?”
• “If you doubled pipeline tomorrow, could your current process handle it?”

When they say “hmm… good question,” you’re halfway there.

Final Thought

Selling the problem isn’t about tricking prospects into panic — it’s about helping them see what they’ve overlooked. By focusing on symptoms, data, stories, and the cost of inaction, you shift the conversation from “we’re fine” to “we can’t afford to ignore this.”

The best salespeople don’t sell products first. They sell awareness.

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