Using "why" to uncover buyer problems in a market (and eventually sell them stuff)
Drilling down into a visceral buyer problems is an often overlooked step when selling and marketing in B2B. Use the 5Y framework to help unearth problems that your buyers will pay to solve.
Why?….. One of the most powerful questions on the planet.
The truth is often many questions deep, so you have to be prepared to dig.
“Why” is a shovel that helps you get below the surface issues and hone in on visceral, painful problems
When you build the problem side of your Wedge, asking “Why?” is the single most important first step to understanding the problem and pain points of buyers in the market.
The goal is to dig past surface-level issues and uncover the root cause of the problem
It’s not about stopping at the first answer and backing off because the questions are “hard” to answer.
The more they think, the better insight you get by continuing to ask “Why?” until you hit the core issue.
Uncovering buyer problems in a market will allow you to understand and more importantly position yourself to solve the problem they’re facing.
As simple as this is in theory, actioning it on live calls can be challenging. In all honesty, the way to get good at it is to get the reps in.
Below is a framework that I use which helps me a lot when uncovering buyer problems.
Step 1: Start with Their Pain Point
A buyer often speaks about pain points in terms of…
“I’m not getting enough leads”
Or
“We’re spending more on ads but not getting better results”
Instead of focusing on these surface-level frustrations, use them as a jumping-off point for the 5Y framework.
Step 2: Ask the first why about the pain point
Help the buyer dig deeper by asking: “Why do you think the ads aren’t delivering results?”
They might respond: “We’re getting clicks, but people aren’t converting.”
Step 3: Keep Asking Why
Continue peeling back the layers with follow-up questions.
Why aren’t people converting?
“Our landing pages are unclear.”
Why aren’t the landing pages are clear?
“We’re not sure what messaging resonates with our audience.”
Why don’t we know what resonates?
“Because we don’t know what their problem is”
Why don’t we know what problem they have?
“Because we’ve never defined it”
Step 4: Identify the Root Cause
By the end of the process, the real problem surfaces:
They don’t know what problem they solve for their customers so it’s hard for them to signal to the market how they can help them.
Now you have a basic problem statement, dig around and try to to find other angles, explore as many that makes sense.
Create as many of these root cause, problem statements as possible and determine what ones are painful enough that someone would pay to solve them.
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