The second common mistake many salespeople make that costs them sales is failing to properly qualify a prospect to find the emotional reasons why they need your product or service. When it comes to qualifying a lead, it's important to understand the reasons why people do things and ultimately why they will or will not purchase 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 satisfy both needs. These two needs are: 1. The need to avoid pain or loss. 2. The need to gain pleasure. These are the two motivating factors in a person to do anything in their life; to obtain pleasure or to avoid pain. You may have heard the term “the carrot or the stick”. The carrot represents edible reward, while the stick refers to punishment.