The key to making a sale is uncovering pain. If you can discover your prospect's pain and help with that pain, you're much more likely to make a sale.

In Sandler terminology, "pain" really refers to any compelling emotional reason to do business together. It can be a pain in the future, pain in the present, pleasure in the future, or pleasure in the present.

A cup of coffee is usually a pleasure in the present. Insurance, on the other hand, typically solves pain in the future.

There are three levels of pain to look for:

1. Surface Pains (a.k.a. symptoms)
2. Causes
3. Personal Impact

In sales interactions, you can ask questions to dig deeper and deeper until you get to the impact the problem has on an individual on a personal level.

But in most marketing, you don't get to drill down that deeply on an individual basis. Regardless, it can still be powerful to appeal to all three levels of pain in your marketing. So how can you do that without asking questions?

The most powerful marketing appeals to the most frequently occurring pains across all three levels.

Think about how medicine is often marketing. Good marketing for medicine talks about the symptoms you may be experiencing, what could be causing them, and how the medicine might make a difference in your personal life.

There are not a lot of absolutes in there, right? That's because you probably still need to see a doctor! A trained medical professional will actually determine if the medicine's right for you.

All your marketing should be doing is starting a conversation. It should appeal to your ideal prospect, but you're not prescribing a solution. Don't talk in absolutes. Tell them your solution might be right for them.

Once you're actually having the conversation, you can see if your solution will solve their pain or not.

So the next time you're putting together marketing material, ask yourself if it's speaking to multiple levels of pain. It will be a lot more powerful if it is.