When I have discussions with clients, I always ask them why are they in business? What is the purpose of their business?
I’ve briefly touched on this in other blogs but the common answer I get is to make a profit or to make more money. I always follow by asking who do you think your answer is more focused on?
You or the customer?
The answer should be clear, its more focused on their own agenda, not necessarily the needs of the customer. However, the reality is you’re not in business for yourself. You’re in business for other people (or should I say you should be).
I always remind them that the purpose of you being in business should be to find and help people solve their problems.
It’s important to ask yourself, if your specific products or services cannot solve your customers problems is there any reason for them to do business with you?
It’s important to take the time out and think about what problems your potential customers might have in your chosen industry. List all of them down then ask yourself whether your products or services help solve them.
What’s interesting is to be an even more effective business person you actually have to focus on PROBLEM FINDING as well as problem solving. Nobody steps into a shop to solely give the shopkeeper money. They come in for THERE reasons.
By problem finding I simply mean uncovering the challenges they may not know they have. Think of it this way, without assisting your customer to find out what problems they have, it’s almost impossible to be a good problem solver.
We always hear about good businesses being excellent problem solvers and adding value in this way. They can assess customer need and then deliver their solutions. And this ability to solve problems is important to your success.
However, in the information age we live in today. Information is in abundance and very accessible to everyone, so solving problems in and of itself matters a little less. Think about this, if your customer knows precisely what their problem is, in this day and age they can find the information to make a decision without you. Business solutions are more valuable when customers are unsure or confused about their true problems. In these situations, the ability to persuade is more reliant on problem FINDING than on problem solving.
In Part 2 I will address applicable ways to do this!
Stay tuned!