If you can't solve a customer's problems, they'll buy from someone who can.

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Problem Solving For Salespeople

Every company has problems, recurring problems, one-off problems, even structural problems. Very few small and medium sized companies have a proper method for dealing with them.

It is like they expect to get better through a mix of random chance and miracles. The only sensible way is to have a continuous improvement programme in place.

I created this method and developed it into a successful problem solving scheme and also a “continuous improvement lite”. It is for people who have better things to do than join a cult like Six Sigma.

I used this during difficult sales engagements and implementations. I implemented a “quality circles” concept to solve problems and bond teams across silos.

It is called “DEAD” because it had to be as simple and as memorable as possible.

I knew what the steps were when a crusty colleague of mine said, “Do a problem workshop? I’d rather be dead!” So, I crow-barred the steps into the acronym to annoy him for all eternity.

He was forced to attend a session later, by his own department, and became a raving fan.

The acronym stands for:

• "D" for Define the problem
• "E" for Evaluate solutions
• "A" for Actions to see what must be done
• "D" for Decide what is going to be done

We all want to kill our problems, and now you can.

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1. Define

Getting a proper definition of a problem is 80% of the way to solving it. The difference between, “My car won’t work properly” and “I have a flat battery” is that the second definition tells you the solution immediately.

This is why it s worth spending time getting your problem definition right, just turning it around will solve most problems.

Here’s what you do:

Get the minimum number of people into a meeting using these criteria:

1. They experience the problem directly

2. They are involved upstream or downstream of the problem

3. They care about the the problem being sorted.

They don’t come unless they have two of these criteria. IT are nearly always involved so you will have to convince them they are super important to get them off their email.

You can use a fishbone diagram to go through each part of the situation and examine what is going wrong there.

You can also use the “five why’s” method to get going. This is literally asking someone to state the symptoms and then asking why until you get to the root of it.

For example: The number of customer reported damages is too high

Why?

The boxes do not get treated gently at load stage

Why?

We’re rushing to get finished

Why?

The transport needs to get to the hub on time

Why?

We’ll miss our slot and they’ll delay processing

Why?

We need to get there early enough for international shipments to catch their flights.

This already suggests many possible solutions: treating international orders differently, setting an earlier order cut off to allow time for loading, more staff at loading, faster transport, different spot at the hub, etc. etc.

The output is a summary of the problem in its simplest form. You will know this when you see it because it will strongly suggest solutions.

2. Evaluate

Now you brainstorm ideas for solving the problem, which is just writing down all the outputs from the first step, really.

I have found writing solutions on “Post It” notes and sticking them on the wall for around ten minutes the best way.

It allows the less senior and less dominant people to give their best, without fear of being drowned out or embarrassed by the louder members of the team.

Once the solutions are on the wall, group related ideas together so you end up with a mind map type effect on the wall.

Now, give each possible solution a name or label, like this:

Consider the implications of each solution such as cost, time to implement, resource taken. If you don’t know the absolute values for these things then use a relative measure.

You do this by identifying the simplest, cheapest idea and then comparing the next one - is it easier or not, more expensive or not. It's easier to put things into order than to estimate specific numbers for them.

Use that method to get a sense of the viability of each solution.

Finally consider the problems that each solution will cause. Every solution will have some negative effects and unforeseen consequences, give them some consideration. Don't get carried away and discount solutions just because they have a negative consequence, nothing is wholly positive.

Now plot each solution on an Impact vs Effort matrix.
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Impact: This axis represents the benefits that the solution or will bring. Score out of ten.

Effort (or Cost): This axis quantifies the resources, which could include time, money, or other factors as discussed above. Score out of ten, unless you can actually put costs or real measures in place.

The matrix is typically divided into four quadrants to help categorise solutions:

• High Impact, Low Effort: Quick wins, high priority.
• High Impact, High Effort: Big projects, need planning but worth it.
• Low Impact, Low Effort: Fill-ins, low priority but easy to achieve.
• Low Impact, High Effort: Thankless tasks, avoid or last priority.

3. Actions

Go through and narrow it down to just two or three best options. Then for each viable solution make a list of the key actions needed to carry it to completion.

The amount of detail is up to you, but keep it high level and quick. You are looking for about six key steps for each solution.

The point is to identify the solution(s) that will get the problem either completely sorted out or to such a state that it no longer affects customer experience, profitability or staff efficiency to any significant degree.

There is a possibility that when you actually write out the steps involved, you decide that the solution is no longer worth doing or has a fatal flaw you missed earlier.

For example, in our running example, the “Hub Slot” solution looked good, but on consideration this would require every other warehouse in the UK to move their delivery schedule around to fit you in - so it was not viable.

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4. Decide

You don’t leave the room until you have a project plan to solve the problem.

There may be some external information you need to confirm things or external people need consulting - fold those actions into the project plan before you let the team disperse, I explain how below.

Pick one or at most two solutions to work on based the previous step. Formalise the actions into a real, but simple project plan.

This simply means that the actions are clarified, owners identified and a timescale for completion agreed.

Each action will be broken into obvious and achievable steps, so no one is left sitting there asking, “How do I do that?”

An overall project owner is nominated, whose job it will be to follow up on all owners and actions to get the solutions done.

This frees the person running the workshop up to run more and not become the person with 25 projects on their back that determine the future of the company.

Dependencies between actions (and on external factors) are considered so that the actions can be put into time order. If you number each step, then you can just note the numbers of the dependent steps against the relevant step.

No actions are permitted to be given to anyone who is not in the room. If something needs to be done by someone not present then a person in the team takes an action to tell them and feedback to the solution owner.

The minutes of the meeting form the charter for the project. They are just the action plan that has been agreed plus a date and time for the group to meet again to review progress with the project owner.

In addition include and a rough estimate of the costs involved.

The charter includes:

• The aim of the project - a statement of the benefits of solving the problem you defined.
• The scope of the problem - the definition you created, with where it stops and starts.
• The solution(s) chosen - for each one there is an assessment of its effectiveness and risks associated (the consequences and the six step walkthrough output).
• Estimate of costs and timeline for completion. This is because it is the first question your CEO will ask.

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This is all the work that you have done in the workshop (without realising it), so don’t panic, just keep it for reference until the results are delivered.

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