GTM Skill
Pain Point Research
Deep Discovery. Root Causes. Real Impact.
Go beyond surface symptoms to uncover root causes, business impact, and personal stakes. The foundation of all great sales conversations.
Great discovery uncovers four layers of pain:
1. Surface: "Our process is inefficient" 2. Business: "It costs us $X per month in lost productivity" 3. Personal: "I've promised my boss I'd fix this by Q2" 4. Root: "Our original system was built for a company 1/10th our size"
Most salespeople stop at layer 1. Top performers get to layer 4.
The Philosophy
Most salespeople accept the first problem a prospect mentions. Great salespeople dig deeper—finding the root cause, quantifying the impact, and understanding the personal stakes for their buyer.
Pain point research isn't just about finding problems. It's about understanding why those problems matter, who they affect, and what happens if nothing changes.
The Four Layers of Pain
- →Surface. The symptom they'll tell anyone who asks.
- →Business. The measurable impact in dollars, time, or risk.
- →Personal. How it affects their career, reputation, or stress.
- →Root cause. Why the problem exists in the first place.
Research Sources
- →Job postings. What they're hiring for signals priorities and gaps.
- →Review sites. G2, Glassdoor, TrustRadius reveal internal challenges.
- →LinkedIn activity. What they post and engage with shows priorities.
- →Investor materials. Earnings calls, board decks reveal strategic pressures.
When to Use
Best For
- • Pre-call research to personalize outreach
- • Discovery calls to go deeper
- • Building business cases
- • Training AI on your ICP
Avoid When
- • Prospect has already articulated their pain
- • Transactional sales with obvious needs
- • Time pressure to move to close
The Prompts
Prospect Pain Research
Research pain points for this prospect using public information. Context: - Company: [COMPANY NAME] - Industry: [INDUSTRY] - Prospect role: [TITLE] - My solution area: [WHAT YOU HELP WITH] Pain Point Research Framework: 1. Surface symptoms: What visible problems might they have? 2. Root causes: What's driving those symptoms? 3. Business impact: How does this affect revenue, costs, or risk? 4. Emotional impact: How does this affect the person in that role? 5. Timing triggers: What events make this urgent now? Research sources to synthesize: - Recent job postings (what they're hiring for signals priorities) - G2/Glassdoor reviews (internal challenges surface here) - Earnings calls/investor materials (stated priorities) - LinkedIn activity (what they're talking about) - Industry reports (macro pressures) Generate a pain point hypothesis with supporting evidence.
Discovery Call Questions
Generate deep pain point discovery questions. Context: - Prospect company: [COMPANY] - Prospect role: [TITLE] - Suspected pain area: [HYPOTHESIS] - My solution: [WHAT YOU OFFER] Pain Point Discovery Layers: 1. Surface level: What they'll tell anyone 2. Business level: The measurable impact 3. Personal level: How it affects them specifically 4. Root cause level: Why it's really happening 5. Urgency level: Why now vs. later Generate questions for each layer: Layer 1 - Surface (easy to answer): Layer 2 - Business Impact (quantifiable): Layer 3 - Personal Impact (emotional): Layer 4 - Root Cause (diagnostic): Layer 5 - Urgency (timing):
ICP Pain Mapping
Map pain points across an Ideal Customer Profile. Context: - Target company profile: [SIZE, INDUSTRY, STAGE] - Key personas: [TITLES YOU SELL TO] - My solution: [WHAT YOU OFFER] - Common use cases: [HOW CUSTOMERS USE YOU] Pain Mapping Framework: For each persona, identify: 1. Their top 3 professional priorities 2. What blocks them from achieving those 3. The cost of those blockers (time, money, career risk) 4. What triggers them to seek a solution 5. What they've tried before and why it didn't work Generate a pain point map for each persona.
Competitor Pain Analysis
Analyze competitor weakness and customer pain from reviews. Context: - My company: [YOUR COMPANY] - Key competitors: [COMPETITOR NAMES] - My differentiation: [WHERE YOU WIN] Review Mining Framework: Analyze G2, Capterra, TrustRadius reviews for: 1. Top 3 complaints about each competitor 2. What customers wish the product did better 3. Support/service issues mentioned 4. Use cases where competitors fail 5. How these map to your strengths Generate competitor pain analysis with direct quotes.
Objection Handling (Return to Pain)
Handle this objection by returning to pain. The objection: [PASTE OBJECTION HERE] Context: - The pain we uncovered: [WHAT THEY SAID WAS PAINFUL] - Business impact: [HOW IT AFFECTS THEM] - Personal impact: [HOW IT AFFECTS THEM PERSONALLY] Pain-Based Response Framework: - Acknowledge the objection - Return to the pain they articulated - Quantify what doing nothing costs - Connect your solution to that specific pain - Ask if the pain has changed or gotten worse Generate a response that reminds them why they engaged.
Example Output
Pain Point Hypothesis for Sarah Patel, VP of Sales at Acme Corp SURFACE SYMPTOMS: - Recent job post for "Sales Operations Manager" mentions "scaling SDR processes" - LinkedIn post about "spending more time in spreadsheets than selling" - G2 reviews of their current CRM mention "clunky reporting" ROOT CAUSES: - Fast growth (50% YoY per press release) outpacing process maturity - Tech stack assembled ad-hoc, now creating data silos - Leadership likely expecting more pipeline from existing headcount BUSINESS IMPACT: - Estimate: 3-5 hours/week per rep on manual data work = ~$15K/rep/year - Reporting delays mean slow response to performance issues - Pipeline forecasting unreliable → CFO pressure EMOTIONAL IMPACT: - Sarah promoted 8 months ago (LinkedIn). Needs to prove she can scale. - Posts suggest frustration with "firefighting" vs. strategic work - Likely feels pressure from board to hit growth targets TIMING TRIGGERS: - Q1 planning happening now (based on industry patterns) - Series B closed 4 months ago → investor reporting pressure - Hiring surge suggests they're trying to hit aggressive targets OUTREACH ANGLE: Lead with the spreadsheet/admin time pain. Connect to her personal pressure to prove the team can scale without just adding headcount.