Seth Godin in his Blog 23 tweetable start-up insights is quoted saying: “Sell the problem. No business buys a solution for a problem
they don't have.”
What does this mean in your business? I bet if you take five minutes and a clean
sheet of paper (or word processor) you would be able to write down a list of
problems that you solve for your customers, right?
Not so sure – then I would tell you it is time to find
out. How do you find out what problems
you are solving for your customers? Try
talking to them; are you in touch with your customers, personally? Is there someone in your organization that is
in touch with your customers? Who is
that? What is the level of training that
your customer facing associates have in asking the tough questions about what
problem your product or service is solving for your customers?
Is there is a more important question that you should
ask?
When working with one of my clients recently on defining
their market place and reviewing the strategy that they are following to “blow
away the customers” we went through a series of questions like this and found a
couple of key areas to fortify. The
first question was: Do you understand who qualifies as their best customers
today and why are they your best customers? This seems like a simple question; however I
always find the answers I get from my clients telling. What would your answer be to this question?
If you understand who your best customers are and you ask
them what problem your product or service solves for them you will find, I am
certain that they will educate you more about your business then you could ever
learn in business school or in the school of hard knocks!
This is a simple exercise that has helped many of my clients
evaluate their strategy and improve customer relationships and top line
revenue.
The other question that is a natural follow on is: Ms.
Customer - What problems do you have that my product/service does not solve for
you?
Reach Brian Graham at bgraham@quintic-capital.com or
via phone at 727-742-2546.