Why SOLVE Works
The thinking behind the method, why it is engineered rather than random, and how it stacks up against generic AI chat and traditional role-play.
Not Comfortable Role-Playing Out Loud? Good. You Don't Have To.
Finally: a fun, effective way to train and practice that doesn't put anyone on the spot.
If your team dreads daily role-play in front of each other, this is the fix. Train and practice in text mode, quiet, private, just like real online discovery conversations, or switch to voice mode for a real spoken conversation, just like a real phone call or an in-person meeting. Same SOLVE Framework, two ways to practice it, zero pressure.
Text Mode
Practice quietly, at your own pace. Type your discovery questions and responses just like you would in a real chat-based discovery conversation, no one watching, no pressure to perform out loud.
Voice Mode
Ready for the real thing? Switch to a live spoken conversation with the AI customer, just like an actual phone call or sitting across the table in person.
Train Anywhere, Anytime
In the car on the way to work. At your desk between calls. At home after dinner. Practice during slow times instead of scrambling during busy ones - the SOLVE Framework trains around your schedule, not the other way around.
This is the SOLVE Framework, the new, genuinely fun and effective way to train and become a top-level consultant in any field. Pass the certification exam and earn your official SOLVE Framework Certification and certificate, ready to frame on your wall or add straight to your resume.
Created by Wade Skrimager
30+ years helping people across automotive, financial services, real estate, home improvement, and leadership development make better decisions. Based on the books Stop Selling. Start Solving. and Uncommon CENTS.
The Method
The SOLVE Framework™
A five-step, consultative approach to discovery and leadership that replaces pressure with trust - the foundation for every Conversation inside the SOLVE Platform™, and for both books.
Situation
Understand the situation before you say a word. Who is this person, why are they here, and what is really going on beneath the request?
Open with Questions
Lead with curiosity, not a pitch. The first move is a question, not a presentation.
Listen for the Outcome
Hear the future they are actually trying to reach. The product is never the point; the outcome is.
Visualize Success
Help them picture what "solved" looks like, turning it into a shared goal that prioritizes their needs and wants, so the decision feels clear instead of risky.
Engineer the Solution
Build the answer around them, even when the honest answer isn't you. That is what earns trust for life.
Why SOLVE Is Different
Every AI can simulate a conversation. SOLVE teaches you how to think during one.
Instead of memorizing scripts or drilling objection handling, professionals learn how to genuinely understand the person in front of them, so the right solution becomes obvious to everyone.
Most practice tools measure whether you followed a script. SOLVE measures whether you actually understood the person you were talking to. At each step, the goal isn't compliance with a checklist, it's genuine comprehension: grasping the real situation before offering anything, surfacing the motivations behind the request, confirming the outcome they're actually after, helping them picture what "solved" looks like, and only then building a solution they can move forward on with confidence.
That shift, from reciting the right words to doing the right thinking, is what separates SOLVE from a script or a chatbot drill. The result is better conversations, stronger relationships, and more confident decisions. Because great consultants don't overcome objections, they reduce the need for them.
Not Random. Engineered.
These aren't random AI chats. Every conversation is engineered.
Every practice conversation on the SOLVE Platform™ is designed with a defined ideal outcome before your rep ever says a word. The AI customer has a real situation, real motivations, and doors that only open when your rep earns them through trust and the right questions. SOLVE Coach™ scores every session against that engineered outcome using the five-step SOLVE rubric, not against a script, and not on a whim.
The 85% gate
A rep who never uncovers the customer's real motivation cannot score above 85%, no matter how smooth they sounded. They retake it until the thinking is right.
Closer to the ideal, higher the score
The score measures the distance between the solution your rep engineered and the best possible solution for that customer.
Sometimes the highest-scoring answer is a referral
In some scenarios, the best outcome is referring the client to someone else. SOLVE scores judgment and integrity, not just closing, because forced deals become chargebacks and bad reviews.
Objection Handling, the SOLVE Way
Objections aren't obstacles to overcome. They're diagnostics.
Yes, the SOLVE Platform™ teaches objection handling, but not the way script libraries do. We don't hand your reps comeback lines, because "let me think about it" was never the real problem. An objection is a signal that a step got skipped. When a customer says "I need to talk to my wife" or "let me sleep on it," something upstream was missed, the real motivation never surfaced, or success was never truly visualized. A customer who can clearly picture what "solved" looks like has usually already had that conversation at home. That's why they're standing in your store.
So SOLVE trains reps to do what advocates do, not opponents: agree with the objection, then diagnose it. "I think you should talk it over, and before you do, let's make sure we've nailed down exactly what success looks like for you, so that conversation is an easy one." The rep returns to the step that got missed and earns the trust that was never established, instead of pushing a line that closes nobody and burns a customer who would have come back.
Every objection maps to a step
"Too expensive" is a Visualize Success gap. "Let me think about it" is a missed motivation. "I need to check with my partner" means the outcome was never made real. Reps learn to hear which step the objection points to, and return to it.
Practiced, not memorized
AI customers in Intermediate and Advanced scenarios raise real objections, stalls, spouse checks, price pushback, competitor comparisons. Reps practice diagnosing and recovering, scored against the SOLVE rubric like everything else.
Advocate, not opponent
Scripts create pressure; pressure creates walkaways and one-star reviews. Reps who respond to objections with agreement and better discovery close the deals worth closing, and get referred by the ones they don't.
This isn't theory. It's documented.
Research analyzing 35,000+ sales calls found top performers received fewer objections, because of superior discovery, not better comebacks. Many objections are created by the seller pitching before understanding. (Neil Rackham, SPIN Selling, Huthwaite research)
Telling someone they're free to say no roughly doubles compliance rates, confirmed across 40+ studies with more than 22,000 participants. Affirming autonomy beats applying pressure. (Carpenter, "But You Are Free" meta-analysis, 2013)
Customers who vividly imagine using a solution show significantly higher purchase intent. If they can't picture "solved," they haven't decided. (Gregory, Cialdini & Carpenter, 1982; supported by decades of customer-orientation research, Franke & Park, 2006)
Script-based selling overcomes objections. SOLVE-based selling makes most of them never come up, and diagnoses the ones that do.
Real Conversation Scoring
Upload a real call, a transcript, or a text thread. Get scored by the same rubric, not a random AI opinion.
Every other platform grades rehearsal. SOLVE also grades the real thing. Upload an actual call recording, paste a call transcript, or paste a real text or email exchange with a customer, and SOLVE Coach™ scores it against the exact same five-step SOLVE rubric your team certifies on, the same step-by-step breakdown, the same coaching, and a named diagnosis of precisely where the conversation stalled.
This is not generic AI feedback. Ask ChatGPT to grade a sales call and you'll get a different opinion every time you ask, a grader with no standard, no sequence, and no memory of your last score. SOLVE Coach™ measures every conversation, practiced or real, against one fixed standard: the published SOLVE Framework. An 85 means the same thing on a Tuesday phone call as it does on a certification exam. That's not a grade. That's a measurement system.
Real calls, transcripts, texts, and emails
Audio recordings are transcribed and scored automatically. Already have a transcript from your phone system, Zoom, or dealer CRM? Paste it straight in, along with any text or email thread. Up to 20 real conversations scored per seat, every month, included with every seat, at no extra cost.
"Where it stalled"
Every scored conversation names the earliest SOLVE step that broke down, so coaching starts with a diagnosis, not a debate. When practice scores and field scores sit side by side on your dashboard, you're not wondering whether the practice transfers. You're watching it transfer.
Coaching, not surveillance
Every score and every word of feedback goes to the rep, always. Managers see the trends; reps see how to get better. Advocates, not opponents. That's the standard we score them on, so it's the standard we hold ourselves to.
Platforms grade the dress rehearsal. SOLVE grades opening night, with the same rubric, the same coach, and the same standard.
You're responsible for having the right to any recording you submit, including consent where required by law.
SOLVE vs. Do-It-Yourself AI
Anyone can open a chatbot. Not everyone gets a measurement system.
| Capability | SOLVE Platform | Generic AI Chat (ChatGPT, etc.) | Traditional Role-Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Designed scenarios with defined outcomes | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Objection handling taught as diagnosis, not memorized scripts | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Consistent rubric scoring across every rep and session | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Certification path and credentials | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Manager dashboard and measurement | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Private practice with no one watching | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Available 24/7 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Scores your real calls and messages against the same rubric | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
Anyone can get a grade from a chatbot. It's a different grade every time, from a grader with no standard. SOLVE gives you a measurement system.