A pain point is a problem your customer is experiencing. As with any problem, pain points are diverse, varied and often complex. Because your customer may not be aware of their pain points, marketing to them can be challenging. You need to help your customer understand they have a problem and show how your services will solve it. Find out how to speak to a customer’s pain points to prove your company’s potential value.
What problems can you help your customers solve?
Types of Pain Points
There are four main types of pain points. Financial pain points involve your customer wanting to spend less money on their provider/solution. Productivity pain points include your customer wanting to more effectively use time than their current provider/solution allows for. Process pain points occur when your customer wants to improve internal process like assigning leads to sales reps or nurturing lower-priority leads. Support pain points revolve around your customer not receiving adequate support during critical stages of the customer journey or sales process.
Identify Pain Points
Uncovering customer pain points lets you determine how to position your company as a solution to their problem. For instance, if your customer’s pain point revolves around financial issues, you can point out how your services cost less than the company’s current provider. Or, emphasize the increased ROI your customers experience after doing business with you. Keep in mind that each customer’s problems are layered and may combine several of the above categories. Therefore, you need to holistically view a customer’s pain points and show how your company can solve them as a trusted partner.
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Detail Pain Points
Although your customer may experience pain points similar to another customer’s, the root cause most likely is different. Because your customer’s pain points are highly subjective, you need to talk with your prospect as well as your sales and support teams to receive individualized, detailed responses to open-ended questions. For instance, “What’s the biggest challenge you’re dealing with?” “What will happen if the problem remains unsolved?” “What has prevented you from solving the issue?” “How would implementing a new system solve the problem?”
Show You Can Resolve Pain Points
Once you’ve gathered the necessary information, you can detail those pain points and show how your company can relieve them. For instance, if a customer’s pain points are financial, you may be able to emphasize your lower price or average savings of your customer base. If pain points involve productivity, you could point out how customers increased efficiency through your user-friendly features, such as a centralized dashboard. For pain points involving processes, you could mention current or planned integrations with existing services. Regarding support pain points, you can demonstrate your after-market support to help the customer feel like a partner.