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Customer Problems--Your Sure Fire Way to Get Their Attention
by: Al Hanzal
Was your 2005 full of competition? Get ready--2006 will be worse! Small
businesses will find their customers dwindling. Why do I say this?
New businesses are created everyday. Some will take away your customers.
More businesses are finding ways to cut their prices. Specialty businesses
will give your customer more and more buying options.
In this crowded market place, how do you get and keep your customer’s
attention? Let me share with you a sure fire formula that will get you more
customers in 2006.
The Failure of Traditional Models
Traditional advertising and marketing fails to address today’s crowded
market place. They tell you to copy what successful businesses are doing.
And then spread your marketing net as wide as possible. This doesn’t
work for small businesses.
q You are not IBM! Your pockets are not deep enough to market this way.
q When you copy other businesses, you force customers to buy on price. You
cannot afford this.
q Who should the customer believe? Every business claims to be the best,
have the best price, the greatest expertise. Where do you rank?
A Formula for Success—Focus on the Customer’s Problem
To get and keep your customer’s attention in the crowded market place
focus your marketing on the customer’s problem. Why does this make a
difference?
q You have one reason and one reason only for being in business—to solve
a customer’s problem.
q The way to stand out in the crowded market place is to focus on the
customer’s problem while everyone else is focusing on their own solutions.
q Would you rather have tire kickers or prospects who come with a problem
you know your business can solve?
q Customers will not move towards solutions until they know that a business
understands their problem!
Look At Yourself
If you doubt this formula, examine your own behavior. What do you focus on
most of the time? You focus on your problems. How are you going to get your
stuff done? You worry about this or that problem. Your life is filled with
concerns. We all go through life this way.
When you see or hear an ad that touches on one of your problems, what happens?
You pay attention. This is how we operate in a world filled with thousands
of daily suggestions to buy. We pay attention to those ads that touch our
problems.
Here’s How to Apply This Formula
Start by understanding your customer’s problem. I mean really understand
his or her problem. How severe is the problem? What are the causes? How long
has the problem been going on? Is the problem big enough that the customer
will to pay to solve it? What are the words or the behaviors the customer
uses to express the problem? What are the feelings surrounding the problem?
Second, take another look at your marketing materials--your ads, sales letters,
your sales conversations, your slogan, your networking. Do each of these
materials reference your customer’s problem? Do you make it obvious
to the customer what problem you solve with your business?
Conclusion
When you have a clear understanding of your customer’s problem and
incorporate that problem in your marketing materials, you have a winning
formula for marketing in today’s crowded market place. Your first selling
task is to convince your customer that you understand their problem. They
will move towards your solution when they feel you understand their problem.
For more details on how to use client problems to attract more customers,
check out various posting on my blog at
www.successfulmarketingtools.com.
Copyright Al Hanzal, 2005. All Rights Reserved
Hanzal Enterprises, Inc.
4191 Granite Court
Eagan, Minnesota 55123
651-485-3340
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About The Author
Al Hanzal
Small business owners have been using Al Hanzal's materials to attract more
customers to their businesses.
al@successfulmarketingtools.com
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