Critical Business Issue?

Many people struggle to understand the (critical!) difference between a Critical Business Issue and “pain” (or Problems/Reasons). Here’s an easy example to help clarify…

Salespeople: How many of you want more, better leads?

Everyone?

OK, how important is it to you? Rank it on a scale from 1-10…

Those of you who chose 7 or higher: Are you at risk of missing your numbers or not achieving quota?

If Yes? That’s a Critical Business Issue!

Your Critical Business Issue is your need to achieve your objective of reaching (or exceeding) your quota. A contributing “pain” (Problems/Reasons) is your lack of a sufficient number of well-qualified leads.

If No? Nope, that’s just a “pain” you can likely live with. You might like to have more and better leads, but you probably won’t take action or invest tangible resources to pursue them!

You can find more on the importance of Critical Business Issues and how to uncover them in this article and our Great Demo! and Doing Discovery books.