3 Keys to Understanding Customer Needs

The best way to better understanding customer needs is to take time to consider what their lives have looked like before we enter the picture.

Too often we start by thinking about what problem we can solve for prospects and ultimately what we're going to sell. That's why we're in business to sell a product or service, right?

Before rushing into our trusty sales pitch we need to ask ourselves what’s going on in the customer’s life that would make them want to talk with us in the first place. What is it they need?

When we approach sales as an exercise in problem solving based on customer needs rather than a process of selling what we know and like, the approach is quite different.

This Is Not a New Problem

Things haven’t changed much in the past two decades we have been helping clients with sales enablement and online marketing needs. That is because regardless of our industry or the vertical market we are in we are all in the people business, and people have needs.

We've found that when we take a little more time and care to understand customers’ needs, wants, and motivations, the results are always better. We meet them where they are in the buyer’s journey and help them take the next step.

You Benefit by Putting Customers First

A thoughtful, needs-based approach builds relationships for the long term, not just a quick sale. The benefits are two-fold:

• Repeat business is more profitable because acquisition costs are 5-to-10 times less than acquiring new customers.
• Satisfied customers recommend you to others, which reduces new business acquisition costs.

That is why we are in business – to build value for our customers and ourselves, not just to sell a product or service.

Three Steps to Understanding Customer Needs

We have found there are three key steps to understanding the prospects and customers we want to help.

1. Make a list of everything your perfect customer fears and what keeps them up at night. This is usually their highest priority. Base your assessment on everything you know about their day-to-day operations. Think through how your solution, product, or service can help them.
2. Understand what requirements you must meet to do business with them and why they need those requirements met. Put yourself in their shoes.
3. What goals do your prospective customers have? How can you help them achieve those goals with measurable objectives through effective strategies and tactics?

Understanding customers’ needs and helping them meet those needs is not only more profitable business for you – it’s also the right thing to do.

Bren Taylor Montgomery, Founder - July 23, 2022