The Diagnostic Sale

🩺 LEVEL 14 — The Diagnostic Sale

What you'll learn:

Doctors diagnose before prescribing. So should you.

The Diagnostic Sale transforms you from salesperson to trusted advisor.

When you diagnose problems first, solutions become obvious — and buyers sell themselves.

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Why it matters:

The Typical Salesperson: Buyer: "I'm having some issues..." Seller: "Great! Here's my solution!" 💊

→ Buyer: "But you don't even know what's wrong yet..."

The Diagnostic Seller: Buyer: "I'm having some issues..." Seller: "Tell me more. What specifically isn't working?" 🔍

→ Buyer: Opens up, trusts you, sees clear problem

→ Solution becomes obvious

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🎯 The Doctor Analogy

Imagine visiting a doctor:

❌ Bad Doctor:

You: "I'm not feeling well."

Doctor: "Here's a prescription!" 💊

You: "But you don't know what's wrong with me..."

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✅ Good Doctor:

You: "I'm not feeling well."

Doctor: "Tell me more. What symptoms are you experiencing?"

You: Describe symptoms

Doctor: "How long has this been going on? How often? What makes it worse?"

You: Provide details

Doctor: "Based on what you've told me, here's what's happening and here's what will fix it."

You: "That makes perfect sense. Let's do it."

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Sales works the same way.

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🧭 The Four-Phase Diagnostic Process

PHASE 1: Symptom Discovery (What's wrong?)

Goal: Get them talking about what's not working

Questions to ask:

• "Tell me more about what's not working."
• "What specifically feels off?"
• "When did you first notice this?"
• "Walk me through what's happening."

What you're doing: Creating space for them to articulate vague problems

Example:

You: "What made you start looking for a solution?"

Buyer: "I don't know... things just aren't working as well as they should."

You: "Tell me more. What specifically isn't working?"

Buyer: "Well, I'm just not hitting my goals..."

✅ They're opening up — keep probing

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PHASE 2: Problem Quantification (How bad is it?)

Goal: Help them see the true scope of the problem

Questions to ask:

• "How much time are you losing per week?"
• "What's this costing you in revenue?"
• "How long has this been going on?"
• "What happens if nothing changes?"

What you're doing: Making the invisible visible through numbers

Example:

You: "How much time would you say you're losing on this per week?"

Buyer: "Honestly... probably 10 hours."

You: "10 hours weekly — that's 520 hours per year. That's like 3 full months of work."

Buyer: "Oh my god. I never added it up like that."

✅ This is the "aha moment" — they see the problem clearly for the first time

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PHASE 3: Root Cause Identification (Why is it happening?)

Goal: Uncover the underlying cause, not just symptoms

Questions to ask:

• "What do you think is causing this?"
• "Have you tried fixing it before? What happened?"
• "What gets in the way when you try to solve it?"

What you're doing: Helping them identify the real issue

Example:

You: "What do you think is causing this time drain?"

Buyer: "I think it's because I don't have a real system. I'm just winging it every time."

You: "So the root issue is lack of structure?"

Buyer: "Yeah, exactly."

✅ Now you know the REAL problem to solve

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PHASE 4: Prescription (Solution mapping)

Goal: Present solution that directly addresses diagnosed problem

Only NOW do you present the solution.

How to present:

• "Based on what you told me, here's what would fix this..."
• "Since you're losing 10 hours weekly, this would give you 9 of those back by..."
• "The root cause you identified — lack of structure — is exactly what this addresses."

Example:

You: "Based on everything you've told me, here's what would fix this: [solution that directly addresses their diagnosed problem]"

Buyer: "Oh, that actually directly solves what we just talked about."

✅ Solution feels custom-fit because it was diagnosed first

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🎯 The Transformation Moment

The magic happens in Phase 2 (Quantification).

When you help buyers quantify their problem, they have a revelation:

Before Quantification: "Yeah, it's kind of annoying."

After Quantification: "Wait... that's 520 hours per year. That's massive. I need to fix this NOW."

This is when the sale is won — before you even present the solution.

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⚠️ Common Diagnostic Mistakes

Mistake 1: Pitching Before Diagnosing

Buyer: "Things aren't working well..."

You: "I have just the thing for you!"

→ Buyer: "You don't even know what's wrong yet."

Fix: Resist the urge to pitch. Diagnose first.

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Mistake 2: Skipping Quantification

You: "So it sounds like you're losing time."

You: "Great, here's the solution!"

→ Buyer: "I guess so, but I don't know if it's worth solving..."

Fix: Quantify the problem so they see the scope.

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Mistake 3: Assuming the Cause

You: "It's probably because you're not doing X."

→ Buyer: "How would you know? You just met me."

Fix: Ask questions to uncover the root cause together.

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Mistake 4: Generic Solution After Diagnosis

You: Ask great diagnostic questions

You: Generic pitch unrelated to their specific diagnosis

→ Buyer: "But how does that fix MY specific issue?"

Fix: Map your solution directly to what you diagnosed.

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💡 Key Principles

1. People trust those who understand them

Diagnosis = Understanding Understanding = Trust Trust = Sales

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2. The problem must feel urgent

Without quantification, problems feel manageable. With quantification, problems feel urgent.

"Kind of annoying" → "520 hours per year wasted"

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3. Solutions are obvious after diagnosis

When the problem is clear, the solution becomes obvious.

The buyer often says: "Okay, so how do we fix this?"

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4. You become a doctor, not a salesperson

Doctors are trusted. Salespeople are skeptically viewed.

Diagnostic selling positions you as an advisor.

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🎯 The Diagnostic Sale in Action

Full Example:

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Symptom Discovery:

Buyer: "Things just aren't working as well as they should."

You: "Tell me more. What specifically isn't working?"

Buyer: "I'm just not hitting my sales goals consistently."

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Problem Quantification:

You: "How far off are you from your goals?"

Buyer: "About 30% short each month."

You: "So if your goal is $10k, you're hitting $7k?"

Buyer: "Yeah, pretty much."

You: "That's $3k per month, $36k per year in lost revenue. If this continues for another year, that's $36k that doesn't hit your account. Does that sound right?"

Buyer: "Oh wow. I never added it up like that. Yeah, that's huge."

✅ Aha moment achieved

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Root Cause:

You: "What do you think is causing the gap?"

Buyer: "I think I don't have a good follow-up system. I get leads but I lose them."

You: "So the root issue is follow-up structure?"

Buyer: "Yeah, exactly."

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Prescription:

You: "Okay, based on what you've told me, here's what would fix this: [solution that creates follow-up structure]. Since you're losing $36k annually due to lack of follow-up, this would capture most of those lost deals and get you back to hitting your $10k monthly goal."

Buyer: "That makes perfect sense. That directly solves the problem we just identified."

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Your Goal:

Guide buyers to clearly see and quantify their own problem BEFORE presenting your solution.

When they say "Okay, so how do we fix this?" — the sale is yours.