Effective Sales Messaging

When you’re in front of a prospective customer, what do you talk about?

For most early-stage startups, the answer is: “Our product.” Picture a typical software demo: The sales rep shows the prospect how to use the software. Here’s one workflow. Here’s another. Here are the administrative features. And so on.

The trouble is that most startups are doing something new or different. Prospects don’t just need to see what your product does, they need to understand why they should care.

That means sales conversations need to focus on value. If you just show someone how to use your product, they’ll listen politely and then never talk to you again.

Here’s the interesting thing: Most early-stage companies know they need to sell value… but they still aren’t doing it.

Why? Few companies give their sales teams practical tools they can use to prove value to customers. Consider some of the most famous sales methodologies out there. Many are either too complex for early-stage selling or are more focused on helping managers inspect deals to be sure they’re real rather than telling sales reps how to talk to prospects.

What early stage companies need is a simple way to define their sales messages and deploy them on real calls.

That’s what this article is all about.

The Problem - Solution - Impact Flow

Good sales messaging addresses the issues that prospects care about in the order that they become important in the prospect’s decision process. 

You need three kinds of messages: 

Problems show buyers why they need to change. Good Problems state a business challenge, show why it's important, and define it in a way that naturally leads to your product. Problems get the prospect to start looking for a Solution like yours. 

Solutions show buyers how you help. Good Solutions take your features and group them into buckets that address the buyer’s Problems. Solutions get the prospect ready to hear about the kinds of business benefits you create.

Impacts show that it’s worth making a purchase. They specify the kinds of business outcomes you create and state their magnitude. Good Impacts grow out of your Solutions, so prospects see that they’re credible.

These messages flow into one another to prove your product’s value. Problems lead to Solutions which lead to Impacts. P - S - I; hence P.S.I. Selling.

Let’s consider a hypothetical company called Contactify. Contactify helps companies generate sales opportunities through outbound outreach to prospective customers. Contactify’s key differentiator is that it helps companies increase the response rate from their outbound outreach; competitors just increase the amount of outreach.

Here’s an example P - S - I flow for Contactify:

Problem: Most companies are 30%+ behind on their pipeline generation goals, making it almost impossible to hit their revenue targets. The core issue is that outbound response rates have been dropping even as outbound volume has increased.

Solution: Contactify raises response rates by using AI to personalize outreach so it speaks directly to the prospect’s business goals.

Impact: This increases pipeline generation by 20-40%, putting revenue targets within reach.

Imagine that you’re a prospective Contactify customer hearing these messages. The Problem grabs your attention by naming a critical concern for your business and motivates you to consider a change. It also teaches you what to look for: a product that raises response rates. 

Next, the Solution gives you exactly what you’re looking for: a product that delivers higher response rates. It also explains how Contactify does that, enhancing credibility. You’re now ready to hear about the business Impact, which is large enough to justify a purchase. 

Most companies should define three Problems, three Solutions, and three Impacts. That’s enough to capture the different facets of your product but not so many that it creates confusion.

These are your Product Themes: the value messages that are true about your product in general. 

Using the Problem - Solution - Impact Flow

Now let’s look at how to use these messages to build sales conversations that prove value. We’ll briefly consider a common sequence of two calls in a strategic sales process: An initial sales call followed by a software demo. 

The Initial Sales Call

The goal of an initial sales call is to figure out if the prospect really is a potential buyer and, if so, to set the agenda for future discussions. 

Start with a set of Summary Slides that give a quick overview of your Product Themes. Build one slide on Problems, one on Solutions, and one on Impacts. 

Summary Slides help you clearly state the main points up front. They also prompt you to ask questions to confirm that the prospect has the Problems you solve; if they don’t, they’re not qualified and the call should end.

The middle of the call will focus on the Solutions you offer. Have a few slides on each of your three Solutions. When you present these, tie them back to the Problems the prospect confirmed at the start of the call and spell out the Impacts they create. Check in with the prospect to see what parts of the Solution resonate the most.

End the call by agreeing on next steps that advance the sales process. That typically means going broader by bringing in more stakeholders who represent other buying centers or going higher by including folks with more decision making authority. It also means nailing down the agenda for the next call, which likely means going deeper by further exploring the parts of your Solution that fit best for them.

The Software Demo

The second call in a sales process is often a software demonstration. The goal of a demo is to show that you can deliver the Solutions the prospect needs.

Before the call, update your Summary Slides to incorporate what you learned on the initial call. The Summary Slides now represent your Deal Themes, the Problems, Solutions, and Impacts relevant to this deal.

Once again, start with your Summary Slides to make the main points clear. Check in with the prospect to see what resonates; you want to refine your Deal Themes on every call.

Good demos are broken up into a small number of sections, each focused on one major Solution you offer. At the start of each section, mention a Problem the prospect has confirmed they have. Then, demo the part of your product that forms the Solution. Close out the section by spelling out the Impact of that part of the product in the prospect’s situation. Then move to the next section and repeat the Problem - Solution - Impact flow.

Close out the call by agreeing on next steps that advance the sales process.

Conclusion

Defining your sales messaging is a fundamental step toward scaling revenue. Without clear messaging, it’s hard to build your sales process or train your sales reps. With clear messaging, sales calls become clear and persuasive, helping you progress deals faster and close more business.

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Want to see the other articles in this series? Check out our posts on targeting the right buyers and choosing the right sales motion.

Interested in working with P.S.I. Selling? Get in touch.

For more about the author, check out Mike's bio.