One of the things I see lacking, and, on the podcast, hear buyers say repeatedly that they wish they heard more of, is the description of the problem.

It’s easy to underestimate the amount of time you need to spend describing the problem. After all, you, your prospect, and everyone in the room already understands the problem.

So why waste time describing the problem? Here’s why:

When you describe the problem, your prospect starts thinking, “This person gets me.” “Did this guy bug my office? This is exactly what I was talking to Joe about 5 minutes ago.” A prospect who starts thinking this way is highly likely to buy from you, no matter what your competition does.

Another reason you describe the problem is that that description is usually a great place to inject your unique point of view. It’s the place where you make your buyer think, “Oh my god, I never saw the world that way, I need this person around.”

So as a general rule of thumb, spend 50% to 100% more time than you currently do describing the problem. If you are spending 3 minutes out of a 20 minute presentation describing the problem, spend 6. If you are spending 5, spend 7.5.