Costumes, Ghosts and Goblins, Spooky Spiders, and Candy are fun Halloween traditions.
Each year, children dress up and go door-to-door, exclaiming “trick or treat” in hopes of getting a handful of candy to add to the stash they’ve already collected. To a child, there is no such thing as too much candy… in fact, the one with the most candy by the end of the night wins.
What’s interesting is while children give the choice… “trick or treat,” we all know that they don’t want to be tricked. All they really want is treats! They want to be delighted with yummy, fun-to-eat candy.
Are You Tricking Your Clients?
Your customers are the same, they don’t want any tricks; they just want to be delighted with the treats you give them.
Only treats are no longer sugary bites wrapped in bright, colorful paper. They are valuable solutions tailored to meet their very specific needs. And they provide a measurable benefit to the organization and oftentimes the person and/or person(s) buying that solution.
Developing customized solutions is not easy, though; it requires the ability first to identify the problem. And uncovering the point of pain or challenge that needs a solution is difficult!
5 Ways to Uncover Pain Points
1. Demonstrate Thought Leadership
Ask smart questions about their business operation, and make sure your questions are relevant to the person you’re talking to. Showing that you understand and appreciate their role in the company is critical.
Your customers will only reveal information about their company that they truly believe you can help them with. If they don’t think you have the capacity to understand their problems, they will not reveal them to you. In their mind, it would be a waste of their time.
2. Utilize a System to Uncover Information
Start with some softball questions to build rapport and establish credibility before you go into the hardball questions. Use our Needs Analysis approach, it offers a systematic way to help you conduct a collaborative needs analysis session with your prospects and customers.
3. Don’t be Too Quick to Solve Problems
There will be times your customers reveal a problem or challenge early on that you know your company can help them solve. Resist the temptation to start talking about the solution right away; instead, take that opportunity to dive deeper into that problem.
Ask them specific questions directly related to that challenge to help you get a stronger understanding of why they believe it’s a problem, how it adversely affects their operation and how solving it would impact their company. Knowing the value, they would deem your solution critical.
4. Do Your Research
Make it a priority to increase your knowledge of their industry, the competitive environment, technological changes that could impact their business, etc. Staying on top of current trends and offering ideas and solutions to your customers that are relevant and timely will reinforce your value to them and their organization.
The more value you showcase, the more likely they will reveal important information about their business and challenges. This also offers great Valid Business Reasons to get back in front of your customers as you’re working to grow the relationship.
5. Demonstrate That You Really Care About Their Business
You can’t fake this… they will know! You must showcase genuine empathy before your customers will open up to you about their biggest problems. They need to believe you truly care, and they must trust you!
Only then will they open up to you about their biggest problems. It’s no different than we are when talking to our friends or family about our biggest concerns or problems. We don’t share this with EVERYONE, only a select few.
Once you’ve been able to uncover the real points of pain, you’ll be able to treat them with tailored solutions again and again! While trick or treating happens once a year, you should find ways to regularly treat your clients with value they will delight in! Leave the tricks for your Halloween Party!
*Editor's Note: This blog has been updated with relevant information.
