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How To Find Pain Points

[Original 2014 Article:] How to find pain points is one of the basic sales questions we need to answer. We know what they are, and we know they are not features or benefits. But how do we get them?

The great thing about how to find pain points is that they are not difficult to find. We merely have to uncover them. Yes, they really are out there, like a good-for-you vegetable resting just under the surface.

Pain points are specific to their niche. Similarities and crossovers may exist from one niche to another, but terminology will change. Remain aware of this. You cannot simply carbon copy a pain point over to a new niche.

It's as simple as this: prospects will tell you the pain points. However, it takes time.

How To Find Pain Points the Easy Way

You have to be willing to begin badly. Realize that your first several days--probably the initial week if you're dialing an hour a day, and perhaps even two--will be purely for discovering pain points. Want faster results? Make more dials. This is the barrier of effectiveness: most people give up after a couple hours of calling. But the payoff if you commit is tremendous.

When you start, you'll begin with a "good enough" script. Your best guess for what may work. Pick a niche and stick with it. Some prospects won't want to talk, and that's fine; there are always people who don't want to or aren't able to talk. We know this from our industry standard stats:

- half the people you call won't be available

- half of the people who pick up the phone can't actually talk right now.

But of those who do pick up and can talk, some of them will want to help you with how to find pain points. Some people are just plain helpful. Others want to puff out their chests and be the expert. Either one is good for you.

You won't have to fight. Keep your ears open. Listen to what prospects are telling you. Eventually you're going to realize you've heard what this prospect just said before. Write that phrase down. Write it down exactly the way they said it. Notice the terminology. And over the next few days, you'll hear that same thing again and again. When you are told the same thing by three or more decision makers in that industry, you have the makings of a pain point.

"I'm sick and tired of metal fabrication subcontractors promising to meet our delivery dates to get the order, and then failing to do so. That screws up all the inspections and the schedule of all the trades that follow them in."

"Yeah, we gave a few jobs to a fab shop and their work is good, but they keep missing delivery dates. That really causes me a lot of trouble. I get penalized by the developer. The city inspectors and finishing carpeters hate my guts."

"I might consider trying you, but there's a question I have: can you deliver when you say you will?"

This is an example of a series of things you might here--and I did hear--when prospecting for a metal fabrication shop. You can see the common thread. You can also pick out some of the specific industry terms. The pain point is right there.

The No-Risk Way of How To Find Pain Points

Here is a way to uncover pain points without disturbing your target market:

Call the same niche, but in a different geographic area.

Yes, you may miss something that's different about your local area, but you'll get enough to start having good conversations.

Once you get the decision maker on the line, ask: "I'm not sure if you can help me, but I'm trying to find out about the experience (their niche) has had with (your type of company). Have you worked with one?"

Eg. "I'm trying to find out about the experience building contractors have had with metal fab shops. Have you worked with one?"

If they have a story to share, they will.

Then ask them what the worst experience they've had with one was. And then the best.

Yes, the best. Good experiences can be turned around into pain points. Just reverse the situation...if you can actually accomplish the end result.

An Example of How To Find Pain Points

I had a client in Florida who worked all day. He got out of the office at 5PM local time. Obviously we couldn't call locally, so we picked roofers in Colorado. Within a dozen dials, he had the marketing manager of a medium-sized roofing company on the line. Just out of niceness, she spent twenty minutes sharing with him the specifics of the roofing industry in Colorado. I pulled six pain points out of that conversation. It was easy. Now we had our way of starting great conversations with prospects.

Now this may sound simple. And it is. But when making sales calls, most people are concerned with what they are going to say rather than listening to what the other person is saying. I am asking you to keep listening in mind. What is the prospect actually saying?

The information is out there. You simply have to be willing to put in the time and effort, which is not massive and yet has a huge payoff, to uncover it.

2021 Update on How To Find Pain Points

If you want to find out what's really going on in your prospective customer's world, you still can in a world now used to remote meetings. All you need is for that prospect to have a good reason to talk with you. In a previous situation, we found that people who wanted further information on a financial product they had been educated about were more than willing to provide details about their investment and debt history. This was information they wouldn't feel comfortable sharing with their own mother—but in the right situation, they would happily share such details on a phone call within fewer than five minutes with an expert they were meeting for the very first time.

Consider: what do they want to get out of speaking with you? Make it about them and not you...and then you'll be able to get answers to whatever questions you wish.

>> Want more expertise like this on your side? Sign up for the free SALES ON FIRE video training series! <<

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Usage Stats Are Up!

usage stats amaretto coffeeUsage stats can be deceiving. I'm sitting here drinking amaretto-flavored coffee. A secondary flavor (almonds?) is supposedly flowing through its ground and dripped essence, but the amaretto is definitely coming through strong.

I didn't ask for amaretto coffee.
I would never buy amaretto coffee.
It was a gift, probably plucked off the clearinghouse shelves of TJ Maxx, and this morning I remembered it was hiding out in the trunk of my car.

The standard supply of Colombian had run out, and a trip to the store is a future not current event.

So I brought this strange bag inside and tried it.

The Misleading Nature of Usage Stats

Thus far I have not:

  • spat it out
  • recoiled in horror
  • said anything like, "OMG how AWFUL"
  • thrown the bag away
  • poured the decanter's contents down the drain and disinfected the container.

I am actually drinking the coffee.

It is not good.

It is not terrible.

It is coffee, and I wanted coffee.

The fact that this coffee has come along with amaretto and another mysterious flavor is secondary.

However—!

Let us imagine for a moment a survey company phones me up now.

"Sir!" begins the survey taker smartly. "Are you drinking an amaretto-flavored caffeinated beverage?"

And I would have to truthfully report, "Yes."

Yes, I am.

"Thank you sir, that is all I need today!" *click*

Ya-hum.

Usage Stats and Correct Measurement

Now can you see where this is going?

Our survey taker reports back to their marketing firm client.

My response is anonymously morphed into a total of many. Some of us are indeed drinking this specific flavor of beverage.

The marketing firm executive rubs their hands together with glee.

Usage stats are up!

Their efforts must be working.

And this, dear reader, is the extent to which most small and medium firms conduct their market research.

Not much depth, no correlation or causation testing, no deep inquiry into Why.

Let's look at what they did not find out.

They did not discover whether their product was actually wanted.

They did not determine if the user picked their product specifically, at random, or by default.

They did not find out if, as in my case, the user wanted something like that solution, and chose this one not because it was the best fit, or did exactly what they wanted, or provided the features they were looking for...but instead was an answer merely less painful to get than any other at the time.

And so on.

Yet the marketing departments will take the basic data they collected back to their offices, and congratulate themselves on providing precisely what the market wanted.

No...

Are you guilty of this?

How is your level of dialogue with your audience?

Do you know exactly why your target market buys from you, what they value from you?

If not, it's time to do some information interviews.

Sometimes it's not fun to hear that the most cherished feature of what you offer has, in reality, zero value and makes no difference in your customer's buying decision. But if you're willing to set that aside, and go after a deeper understanding of usage stats, you will learn priceless information.

>> Jason Kanigan is a creator of converting funnels, using high ticket copywriting and sales training skills. If you want what your products or services deliver to match exactly what your customers value and are looking for, get ahold of Jason. <<

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How To Decide On a Service [Business Newbie Guide Part 2]

How to decide on a service

How to decide on a serviceHow to decide on a service or product to offer with your new business is a question that creates panic in even the most confident mind. What if your choice is wrong? What if your market doesn't want that? What about all the lost time?

As we saw in Part 1, the first step in choosing a product or service is not running around asking everyone, "What's working? What's selling?" but rather to begin by making a list of things you like to talk about all day.

Two Key Questions On How To Decide On a Service to Offer

I'd like to address a couple questions you may have had about this. First, I said having a topic you enjoy discussing as the subject of your business automatically makes you enthusiastic. But haven't I, in the past, declared "Enthusiasm Is Your Enemy"?

Yes, enthusiasm is your enemy--false, oil slick enthusiasm that is the cloak of the unethical salesperson. But genuine enthusiasm? That's your friend. The root of the word enthusiasm means "in spirit", meaning you are in spirit...in the zone, time passes without you noticing because you love what you're doing, and that internal light switch is turned on. Now how does that sound as the core of your business? Pretty smart idea.

Second, what about your marketplace? What if they aren't interested in any of the things you are excited about?

Ah, now we have arrived at the crux of today's message. Take a look at this Venn diagram:

Passion vs Payment

Starting to get the picture?

The Next Step of How To Decide On a Service or Product

The next step in your journey is to find out what problems people have with the topic areas you're interested in that you can solve. These are called "pain points" and I have written about them many times on this site. Here in Part 2, it's time to invest some energy in exploring each of those subjects you've written down. You will be looking for things people say about each topic that confirm there is a problem for you to fix.

You could talk to people in each target market. Book and conduct some information interviews. This is a way to get instant feedback. However, you're also required to get on the phone, which is probably outside of your comfort zone.

Another option available to you for finding pain points is data mining of Amazon reviews. Yes, in reviews of Amazon/Kindle books are buried clear descriptions of what was wrong in the buyers' lives right before they bought--what induced them to go looking for help, and why they got this book...and perhaps even most critically, what they didn't find inside to satisfy their expectation of a solution. Here is the best explanation of how to search through Amazon reviews for pain points I've found.

Yes, this is going to take you some time. Several days, perhaps. Isn't the very foundation of your business worth it, though? Don't you want to get this right the first time?

Here's a video I made to discuss this process in a little more detail:

If you don't find any pain points, either you have an untapped opportunity or no opportunity. Likely you should cross this topic off the list. Start narrowing down the opportunities.

Next, we'll look at how to start getting in front of qualified prospects.

>> Get the latest critical info on unorthodox sales & marketing by subscribing to SalesTactics.org by email or Following us on Twitter. Want to talk to Jason? Click here <<