“… If you have gotten the customer to acknowledge a “pain” and they are aware and believe that your can uniquely solve that pain you’re a long way down the sales funnel. …”
To Sell Anything You Need to Know What Makes You Unique

“… But that instant product / market fit is rare.
So you need a business case to persuade customers that they should buy now. If they can quantify the amount of gain from using your product or the loss from not using it then you’ve got a burning platform from which to sell now.
It’s called ROI (return-on-investment) selling. :”

Pain

“… It’s a reminder that unless your prospect has a need to solve a problem they are not going to buy a product. Customers sometimes buy things spontaneously without thinking through what their actual need is. But often there is an underlying reason for a purchase even if the buyer doesn’t bring it to the surface.
…  The pain was that somebody senior in the organization had read about the importance of Facebook for business and had begun asking loud questions about why the organization didn’t have a strong Facebook presence. That is still “pain.”

It’s a reason a company would buy. That a boss is a dolt with no economic rationale for what he is asking to be achieved does not disqualify pain. …”

… 

Often if a customer has heard similar problems described in other customers (not hearing your solution pitched at them but a real business discussion about the pain point) then they will start to open up and have a discussion.
Even if they start to debate with you whether this is a real problem or not, you’re having a much better meeting then just flipping through slides. If they’re going to take the time, energy and logic to try and debate with you then they’re at least engaged.
People prefer to hear themselves speak rather than to listen to you. It’s just human nature. :”

…
Write down the customer pains so you’ll have them for later. Ask questions the whole time. The best form of sales is “active listening” where you’re engaged in what the customer is telling you.
And please resist the temptation to cut off the customer with a story of your own.
You know, the blah, blah, blah I heard you but now let ME tell you this great story I have. Most people naturally do this at cocktail parties (everybody does) but not in sales meetings. Never. When you cut off customers with your stories you lose valuable insights that might be exposing more pain points. …”