Small Business Coaching on What Your Customer REALLY Wants

By Allison Babb

Small business owners make one key mistake which is to create a product or service then try to sell it to someone.  Typically they have a passion or talent and true value to offer.  However, they are unaware of the needs of the person that they are trying to sell to. 

This new entrepreneur will become increasingly frustrated because they know that they have a good product and they know what they are trying to sell can really help people.  And they remain baffled by why no-one wants to buy. 

Often at the root of this problem is the lack of awareness of who your target market is and also what they want.  If you are unaware of your target market, you can refer to my previous article with tips on how to find that out.  When you become clear on your target market, then you will need to go discover what they key needs are.  You can make this discovery in a variety of ways. 

But first let’s focus on what you need to find out: 

·          Their greatest pains & frustrations:  Put aside what you’re selling for a moment and just find out what their greatest pains and frustrations are.  Don’t try to see how that fits your product just yet.  Just find out what it is.

·          Their greatest desires:  This is the flipside of their frustrations. What do they want most?  Their greatest desires that often escapes them.

·          Solutions they are seeking:  This is related to both categories above but are the solutions to the pains, problems, frustrations and helps them to achieve their deepest desires.

Example:  Let’s say you are a virtual assistant (someone who provides administrative services to solo entrepreneurs).  First, figure out precisely who your target market is (remember serving “everyone” is suicidal in business).  When you know who your target market is (e.g. Financial Advisors), then you can start discovering what they want. 

Here are a few ways in which you can discover what they want:

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