The Coal Mining Problem

Even experienced sellers sometimes confuse need for a buying signal. You know better. You’ve had a million seemingly productive discovery calls where there’s strong interest, a solid product fit and you ask something like “When would you like to have a solution like this implemented by?” and the prospect says “Yesterday”.

“Yesterday” is a lovely Beatles tune but it’s a potential red flag in a software evaluation. If you hear this on the first call, there’s plenty of time to course correct, and there’s a chance this is a bluebird deal (or “Blackbird” if we’re still talking Beatles) but it’s far more likely that you’re speaking to someone with a very acute problem and absolutely no means to solve it. You have to ask yourself, if this problem is so important to solve, then how come the prospect hasn’t solved it yet?

We call this “The Coal Mining Problem”. It’s easy to pitch respirator masks to miners that are , dying of black lung, but the corporate suits a thousand miles away from the coal elevators likely underestimate the problem, or worse - they might understand the problem perfectly well, but they do not give a damn so long as the same number of metric tons make it onto those trucks every day.

This analogy works for a number of reasons, and it helps point us towards a solution. First, it’s important to sell value at multiple levels. Your coal miner is an end user. They can give you tremendous insights into the business but they probably can’t buy a pencil without getting three layers of approval. You do not work for the end user. You convince the end user that it is in their best interest to work for you. You earn their trust by offering perspective, and they earn your time by sharing insights.

Let’s reframe this coal mining problem for multiple stakeholder levels. In the mine it’s about navigating dangerous conditions. It’s literally life and death. At the management level, it’s about staffing. It’s sick days, retention and having enough capacity to meet the delivery quota. But that’s what managers get paid for. At the executive level,the most effective frame here is managing risk. I’m talking regulatory penalties, legal and financial liability, and reputational damage that could cripple the brand. You’re not selling masks you’re selling insurance.

So don’t spend six months demoing respirators to coal miners. You can’t help the coal miners by selling to them, because they can’t buy. You can help them by picking the right frame to match the value proposition at each level of authority. Miners care about clean air, managers care about clean work schedules, and executives care about clean balance sheets. Be honest with yourself and with your prospect. Enlist end users in helping you to solve the problem for them. Enlist managers and directors in helping you to solve the problem with them. Enlist executives in solving the problem for themselves.