Neil Rackham's framework, refined from 35,000 sales calls. Run questions in this order.
S — Situation. Facts about their current state. "How is your team set up today?" Keep these brief — the prospect already knows the facts and gets bored explaining them.
P — Problem. What's hurting. "Where do you feel the most friction?" / "What's not working?" These open the door.
I — Implication. This is the level most reps skip. Take the problem and make them spell out what it costs them. "What does that delay actually do to revenue?" / "How does it affect the team's morale?" / "What happens if it doesn't get fixed in 6 months?"
Implication questions make the pain real in the prospect's own words. They're now selling themselves.
N — Need-Payoff. Flip the script. Make them describe what solving it would mean. "If we could fix this in 90 days, what would that be worth?" Now they're imagining the win — and they're the one saying it, not you.
The mistake. Reps spend 80% of discovery on Situation (easy, comfortable), 15% on Problem, 5% on Implication, 0% on Need-Payoff. Invert that ratio.
Rule. Implication + Need-Payoff are where the deal is built. Situation is just warm-up.