The second common mistake many salespeople make, which costs them sales, is not adequately qualifying a prospect to find the emotional reasons why they need your product or service. When it comes to qualifying a prospect, it's important to understand the reasons why people do certain things and, ultimately, why they will or won't buy your product or service. You see, people will buy your product or service to satisfy one of two main needs. Sometimes they will even buy to meet both needs. These two needs are: 1. The need to avoid pain or loss 2. The need to experience pleasure. These are the two motivating factors in a person to do anything in his life; to obtain pleasure or to avoid pain. You may have heard it said this way: “The carrot or the stick.” The carrot represents the edible reward, while the stick refers to a punishment