Today's Chicago Tribune[i] had a provocative article about doctors who are sometimes so focused on medicine that they fail to catch socio-economic issues that are contributing factors or possible complications for treatment. According to the Chicago Tribune article, actors portraying elderly men with unexplained weight loss were sent for expensive cancer testing, and doctors in 78% of the cases failed to acknowledge or question his disheveled appearance and other cues that he was homeless. The article reminded me of a conversation I had with clients yesterday, about managing successful sales meetings and discovery sessions...

How often do we, as professional service providers, fail to acknowledge clues from our clients that there are underlying causes or potential complications lurking? Imagine that you have a prospect that has a five-year-old version of software. The business owner complains of performance issues - do you immediately begin discussing an upgrade, or do you stop and ask about the server and network infrastructure?

When a sales manager says that he is looking for new customer relationship management software because the sales people won't use their current product; let's not dive in to a presentation about the usability of our solution. Instead - ask why? I often find that the issue is a combination of technical and management causes. Sales reps that are not asked to provide activity reports, are not held accountable for their pipelines, or are bitter about management issues may not be inclined to use any CRM application - no matter how user-friendly it is.

It can be challenging (and perhaps a bit frightening) to stop and question the red flags that appear during a sales meeting; particularly so if the issues raised are not easily solvable with your products and services. However, if there are underlying issues or complications that will impact the success of your proposed project, they need to be understood and addressed. It's far better to have a dead prospect than a miserable current client.

As the Chicago Tribune article illustrates, patients whose doctors take a more holistic approach toward their treatment are better serving their patients. Likewise, if we make a thorough investigation of our prospects' challenges, we will be better suited to meet their needs. This approach also fosters trust and demonstrates a sincere desire to help solve problems, not sell services.

What red flags have you uncovered and addressed successfully?

[i] Chicago Tribune, "'Mystery patients' help to uncover medical errors" http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-mystery-patient-20100719,0,2581267.story