05 Nov 4 Ways to Determine Your Client’s Pain Points
One of the keys to being successful in business is to solve problems that matter to your audience. Beyond the basics, how do you know what problems or pain points you solve? We’re sharing our best 4 ways to determine your client’s pain points – plus letting you in on the real factor that influences why people buy below.
Why do people buy?
At our core, humans are driven by our emotions. How we feel about things (for better or for worse) influences nearly everything we do, say and buy. People buy products or services based on emotional needs or wants, and then justify their purchase logically. With this in mind, the decision to buy is a decision between wanting to avoid pain or loss OR wanting to gain pleasure. We buy to:
- To feel important
- To be appreciated
- To impress people
- To have fun
- To have memories
- To not have people judge me
- To have people celebrate me
- To make money
- To look more professional/legit
- To be more successful
- So people will like me
When determining your client’s pain points, it’s important to view it through the lens of emotions – the way your solution makes people feel. This feeling your service or product creates is ultimately the problem you solve.
4 ways to determine your client’s pain points
1. Ask your clients. Simple but so often overlooked. Reach out to your current and past clients to ask them what they liked about working with you, what were their dealbreakers when they were shopping for the service you offer and what were the things that got in their way. Again, be keen to the feelings and emotions that they share (“I felt I could trust you” “I felt like you understood my vision” “I didn’t feel judged by you”)
2. Client Testimonials. These reveal people’s worries & fears all the time. When a past client validates the stuff they liked (“he was patient with my questions and took the time to craft program custom for us”), they are worried about the opposite happening. Testimonials will sometimes even tell you directly about their worries (“I was worried about being judged for not having more of a plan but they supported & guided me through everything”).
3. Forums & Facebook Groups. Look for online groups and forums that gather your ideal or potential customers. What gets people riled up? What content are they sharing? What questions (problems) are they posing? Comments can be a particularly fruitful way to do market research as people will often share their worries or fears in online forums or Facebook groups. Do keep in mind the difference between anecdotes & market trends and avoid getting caught up in ‘opportunities’ that take you away from your mission or core value. Just because you can solve a problem doesn’t mean you have to or should.
4. Ask your Prospects & Leads. The process of actually selling is another gold mine for determining your client’s pain points. The best way to do this is to ask open-ended questions in a sales meeting and then LISTEN (seriously, the best salespeople listen way more than they talk). People will tell you what they are worried about if you create a safe space where they can do so. Questions like: “What is getting in your way right now? What does success look like to you? Where are you with things right now?” are good ways to get people talking about what is really driving their decisions.
When In Doubt…
Remember the basic universal truths about humans: People wanted to be heard and understood. People want to feel safe & secure, they want to trust you. People want to feel like they are in control. At the core of any client’s pain points are these basic principles and when you ground you work here, you will always serve your clients.
Need more clients? Download your copy of our 25 tried and true ways to fill your sales pipeline and increase your brand awareness below. What more help on your sales strategy – get in touch about our Soulful Sale Training & Workshop HERE.