Are you ignoring the easiest sales tactics?
Jan 30, 2026
One of my favourite phrases in selling - "Problem, not product"
Simple
And still widely ignored
In engineering sales, the default is often the product
Specs
Performance
Tolerances
Features
All impressive
All important
All frequently the wrong starting point
Because customers don’t wake up wanting a product
They wake up with a problem
Cost pressure
Risk
Downtime
Capacity
Delivery targets
Internal politics
When salespeople lead with product, they force the customer to do the hard work
To join the dots
To translate features into impact
To work out whether this even matters
Most won’t
That’s where the wrong focus gets in the way of success
The right mindset is to think like a partner
Partners don’t pitch first.. they seek to understand
And this is exactly what the VALUE Framework is designed to enable
🔸Validate = right opportunities
Start with the problem
Is it real?
Is it urgent?
Is it worth solving together?
🔸Align = right research
Understand the customer’s context, not just the application
What’s driving the problem?
Who feels the pain?
🔸Leverage = right conversations
Use questions to explore impact, risk and priority
This is where insight lives
This is what makes you valuable
🔸Underpin = right solutions
Now the product earns its place
Positioned clearly against the problem it solves
🔸Evolve = right outcomes
Stay involved
Make sure the problem really is solved
That’s how trust compounds
Problem first
Partner mindset
Product in service of outcomes
Get that order right and engineering sales becomes much easier
What problem are you solving
Are you ready to increase your sales?
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