Importance of Problem Scoring in Sales Strategy

Recently spoke with two sales leaders who highlighted the exact same scoring problem. One from a well-known public tech company, the other from a late-stage HR tech platform. Both described the same scenario: "First RevOps scores accounts A,B,C. Reps get these scores, but often override them based on their own research." This isn’t surprising, I’ve heard this from a ton of sales leaders. But it made me wonder, why do we even bother with “traditional scoring” models that are segregated from actual rep workflows. My observation - this model never works. It’s not that scoring as a concept is bad. Prioritization and scoring are critical for reps, it happens with or without the score from RevOps. You need to build scoring that fits how reps think about their book of business. I think one of the biggest divides is the timeliness component. RevOps scoring is built with a longer time horizon and often without incorporating key buying signals. Reps on the other hand are prioritizing based on a shorter time horizon, it’s usually literally for that week: Is there something timely and compelling about an account this week? What happened last week and how will that impact where I focus this week? At Pocus, we built our scoring to bridge the gap between RevOps and reps. A transparent scoring framework. I've found three core principles that make this work: 1. Start with seller behavior: Watch how your top performers qualify accounts. The signals they use should be your scoring foundation. 2. Make scoring logic visible: Every account score should link to the exact data points that generated it - whether that's hiring patterns, tech stack changes, or engagement signals. 3. Create feedback loops: Build weekly touchpoints where sellers can challenge scores and RevOps can refine the model. As AI gets even smarter about finding intel about accounts in your data or in external sources, scoring should get smarter and even more helpful for reps. But if we don’t make it transparent, we’ll run into all the same problems.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆. Lots of sales methods lead with the message: "Find the pain!" But... ...just spotting a problem doesn’t mean you've found a sales opportunity. Customers don’t buy because a problem 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 — they buy because they’ve 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵. That decision usually hinges on one thing: 𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀? If an identified problem is an obstacle to • a strategic objective • a board-level commitment • a number owned by someone with power ...if so, it’s much more likely to get attention, urgency, and budget. But if it isn’t? Now you’re effectively asking the company to re-rank its priorities. To focus on 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 problem instead. That’s a big ask. In most cases, too big. This is where too many deals stall: not because the problem isn’t real, but because it’s not connected to goals the business has already committed to achieving. So if you want the deal to move, build a bridge between the problem you've identified and a strategic imperative. Show how it blocks progress. Make that connection real for the person who owns the outcome. And if you haven’t identified a problem to solve? You can work the other way... start with a known strategic objective, then look for what’s slowing it down.

Almost without exception, sales success is measured by one thing: contracts signed. But here’s the problem—when we reward for signatures alone, we risk incentivizing behavior that erodes long-term business value.   Yes, contracts close deals. But only problem-solving establishes long term business relationships.   Contract-focused selling creates:   Ø Short-term revenue spikes followed by churn Ø Costly service escalations Ø Damaged brand reputation Ø Teams that oversell and under-deliver          Problem-solving selling delivers:   Ø Higher customer lifetime value Ø Organic referrals and testimonials Ø Sustainable growth Ø Sales professionals who become trusted advisors   Every “quick win” that leaves a customer unsatisfied is a withdrawal from your company’s credibility account. Enough withdrawals, and your sales team runs on empty.   Sales compensation plans and KPIs are either building trust or eroding it in your market. Which outcome are you rewarding?   A deal that harms the customer is not a success—it’s a liability. And let's not forget that the current "nothing to be proud of" reputation of the sales profession depends on us maintaining the highest possible ethical and professional standards based on a "Customer First" foundation.   #SalesLeadership #TrustedAdvisor #RevenueGrowth #CustomerSuccess #B2B #CustomerFirst

THE GREATEST, SINGLE INDICATOR THAT YOUR DEAL OR DEALS ARE IN TROUBLE. The best indicator that your deals are in good shape or are in trouble comes down to the conversation you're having with the buyer. Are the conversations product-centric or problem-centric? Go look at your CRM, your notes, or your Gong calls. What do they sound like? If they are focused on the product and sound like this: "We need a new (product)" "Do you have x,y features?" "How are you different than the competition." "We are looking to implement this buy March." "We're not interested in this type of tool right now." "We already have a tool like this." "Can your product do . . . ?" etc. These questions and the respective answers reflect a product-centric sales process and product-centric sales calls kill deals. If your opportunities and deals are not problem-focused, they're in trouble. Problem-centric sales process subjugate the product to the problem and sound more like this: "We're struggling to do X and it's costing us." "We're losing abc and it's impact us this way." "We're unable to accomplish x and it's affected us in this way." "We are experiencing a decline in . . ." "It's been going on for over x time and it's only getting worse." This information is what we call BID Information or Buyer Input Data and it centers the sales process around identifying and fixing a problem. If your deals are centered around your product they're in trouble. Look for ways to reengage your prospect to uncover the BID data and center the deal around the problem. Problem-centric sales processes always close more often and everyone is happier. #sales #salesenablement #salesleadership #selling

One of the biggest reasons salespeople suffer from low close rates and poor forecast accuracy is because they confuse two key buying concepts: Importance and Priority Importance = the magnitude of the problem the customer has Priority = the customer's sense of urgency to solve it. For example, you might think that if the business case for your solution (i.e. importance) is compelling enough, customers will surely buy. But that's often not the case. Yes, the problem might be important. But in a sea of problems, limited budgets, and competing investments, it may not be at the top of your customer's list to solve. That's why spending more time in your discovery motion digging into (and if you can, helping establish) your customer's priorities is critical! Here's a little tip on how to do that...