The Monday Tuesday Morning Building Product Advisor
Issue #131

In the last few issues, I’ve given you tools to highlight the size of a problem.

Today, we should probably talk about when to stop. And, come to think of it, I probably should have brought this up sooner.

If you’ve taken sales or copywriting training, you’ve probably heard of the PAS (Problem-Agitate-Solve) framework. If not, this should help…

A quick breakdown of the PAS framework:

1. Problem: Identify a problem or pain point your target audience is experiencing. This creates empathy and makes the prospect feel understood, capturing their attention.
2. Agitate: Next, dig deeper into the problem by describing its negative effects or the emotions it causes. This makes the prospect want to fix the issue and feel a sense of urgency.
3. Solve: Finally, show how your product or service is the best way to fix the problem. Explain its benefits and how it will help them.

⚠️ ⚠️ But here’s something you don’t hear often: if you stay too long in the second step, you might agitate yourself right out of the sale.

Let me show you what I mean with an example of a conversation that’s going well.

Frazzled Frank & the Agitated Architect

Our friend Frazzled Frank, the product rep, sits down with an architect named Bobby Sue.

She’s a Project Manager and says they keep having to reject building envelope submittals. Frank asks how many hours each bad cycle takes. She pauses and says, “On a big project, I’d say 3 or 4 hours per round… So about 10 hours for each bad one.”

Then Frank asks how many submittals go through several rounds on a typical project. She stops to think, and you can almost hear her counting. “…Most of them, really. Maybe fifteen?”

Frank adds it up out loud. “Wow… so about 150 hours, right?”

Then Bobby Sue finally says what Frank was hoping for: “Damn! When you put it that way, that’s a full month of somebody’s time.”

Now, let’s pause right there.

Frank has done it.

He’s nailed the agitate step of the PAS Framework. Bobby Sue took a problem she barely noticed and turned it into something important to her, saying it out loud. Frank can’t top that now.

But of course, that’s not the end of it…

We all know how Frank can get, and he just can’t help but ask one more question.

Frank asks, "And what does your managing principal think about a month of unbilled time?”

You can probably guess what happens next.

A moment ago, Bobby Sue was looking at her own problem with Frank. Now, she’s on her heels defending her team and her firm to someone she barely knows. The tone changed because Frank didn’t stop when he should have.

There’s a clear point where you should stop agitating...

Neil Rackham and his team at Huthwaite spent 12 years analyzing 35,000 sales calls to find out what makes top performers stand out in complex sales.

[Wait… What’s that?

You feel a little duped because I said “Neil told them to stop” in the subject line and you thought it was me?

OK, yeah, that was a little sneaky… It’s a different Neil…]

Anyway! Neil Rackham’s book, SPIN Selling, is famous for showing that the best salespeople ask more implication (that’s the “I” in SPIN) questions. These are the questions that help people see the real business cost behind a small problem.

But there’s a warning in his book that most people miss.

Rackham was pretty clear: implication questions are supposed to be negative. But if you ask too many, buyers just feel worse about their situation. His answer is need-payoff questions. These are the opposite… They focus on the solution, not the problem. First, help the buyer see the problem, then show the value of fixing it.

That’s the “stop condition” from his 1988 book. But most sales training today only covers the first part.

Here’s the good news: architects will let you know when you’ve reached that point. The tricky part is that our signals often sound like encouragement, so reps think they should keep going.

Let me help you with that…

The architect’s signals to watch for:

• We put the number in our own words. For example, 150 hours becomes “a full month of somebody’s time.” That’s when the problem really sinks in. We’re doing the math and making sense of it.
• We say things like, “When you put it that way…” That means our perspective just changed. It’s unlikely to change again.
• We go quiet. This is a signal you can easily miss. When a product rep hears silence, they usually rush to fill it. But that silence often means the architect is thinking about something uncomfortable we just admitted. The best thing you can do is let us sit with it.
• We start thinking about who else we’d need to convince. For example, “I’d need to get our spec writer on board with that.” At this point, we’re no longer deciding if the problem is real. We’ve moved on to planning what to do about it. The agitation phase is over, and you’re in a new conversation, even if you don’t realize it.

If you notice any of those signals, you’re done agitating. Not “almost done,” but completely done.

Next, ask one of Rackham’s mirror image questions. For example: “What would help fix this?” “What would you like to see as a better outcome?” “What could your team do if they had those hours back?”

Now, the conversation shifts to the future, not lingering on the problem.

Notice what happens when you make that pivot. The architect has already admitted the problem is real and costly. Now, they’re explaining the value of solving it in their own words, before you’ve even started your presentation.

The architect made the case themselves. You just guided the conversation at the right moment.

Act like a doctor, not a prosecutor.

Here’s a simple way to remember this lesson:

A good doctor shows you the X-ray, points out the issue, and lets you look at it. She doesn’t repeat herself or ask how you feel about letting it get this far. She trusts the information to speak for itself.

A prosecutor, on the other hand, keeps pushing until you admit something. The questions might sound similar, but the prosecutor needs a reaction, and everyone feels that pressure.

I’ll tell you what happens when architects feel that pressure.

We don’t argue. We get formal, end the meeting politely, and remember you as one of those reps who want our problems to sound worse than they are. You won’t hear about it. You just won’t get another call.

The tricky part is that both the doctor and the prosecutor usually ask the same first four questions. The real difference comes with the fifth question.

So here’s a simple assignment: In your next discovery call, listen for any of those 4 signals. When you hear one, pause for 3 full seconds. Then ask about the future instead of focusing on the problem.

3 seconds can feel like a long pause. It might seem like you’re leaving something on the table.

But you’re not missing anything. You’re letting the architect take ownership, and that’s when change happens.

🔔 Resource Alert:

And, once again, I’ve put all this into a basic cheatsheet: the 4 signals and what they sound like in meetings, the 3-second rule, the pivot question to ask next, and the 4 ways reps talk themselves into asking “just one more.”

If you want it, just reply with the word ENOUGH, and I’ll send it over.

Final thoughts:

• Think of this as the “safety rail” for the last few issues. Those last several issues showed you how to dig deeper into real pain. This one says: go deep, then stop. Both are important, but stopping is harder.
• The clearest sign a rep has switched from doctor to prosecutor is when he starts listing the consequences himself. “And that’s got to be hurting your profitability.” At this point, the architect has stopped working out the numbers, and the rep is doing it for them. That means it’s no longer the architect’s number, and if it’s not theirs, it won’t stick.

That's it for this week!

Here's to building more than just buildings, and see you next week,

Neil "Know-when-to-stop" Sutton
​Architect | Speaker | The Product Rep Coach

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P.S. Do you really want inside an architect's head?

When you’re ready, there are 3 ways you can start working with me:

• Product reps: If you want to be better at connecting with architects, reply, and let's chat.
• Business owners or Team Leaders: You can book an Architect Connections Training for your team. Reply, and I'll send you the details.
• Speaking: If you would like me to present at an upcoming group meeting, get in touch, and let’s talk!

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