Problem + solution = marketing success

You'll win much more business if you show your target audience how you can solve their problems.

What is the one thing every person is interested in? The weather? Politics? Health? Sport? Religion? Shopping? Sex? Money? While many people are interested in some of these things, not one of these topics holds universal interest.

The one thing that everybody on the face of the planet is interested in is… their problems. Our minds are fixated with our problems. It's a basic survival instinct. We are always on alert for solutions to our problems for fear that they will get worse and overwhelm us.

How marketers can use problems
If you want to improve your marketing, identify with your prospects' frustrations and position your company or product as the solution. Why? Because the hard truth is prospects don't care about your company or products. They only care about their problems.

When faced with pleasure or pain, most people will choose removal of the pain. And as Jay Conrad Levinson states in Guerrilla Marketing Excellence: The 50 Golden Rules for Small-Business Success: "It is far easier to sell a solution to a problem than to sell a positive benefit."

For example, if frustration with a steep learning curve is a big problem for businesses buying customer relationship management (CRM) software, then position your CRM software as user-friendly.

Home in on your customer's problems and then position your products or services as solutions to these problems. It's not difficult to position yourself as a problem solver. And once you do, marketing and selling become a whole lot easier.

Use problems to gain attention
Problems are attention magnets. Think about newspapers. Bad news always sells more papers than good news. Britney Spears has a nice day. Who cares? Britney's marriage ends in bitter divorce. Tell me more!

Our problems are always in the back of our minds seeking a solution. Hope for a solution activates curiosity. If you start talking about a prospect's problem they will pay attention because they want to know if you can solve it.

Problems help you identify your target market. If people have the problem they'll read your message. If they don't, they won't. And if they do have the problem they'll be only too happy to find out the solution.

Use problems to reduce risk
Buying decisions often fill prospects with anxiety. What if they buy your product or service and it doesn't work? No one wants to waste their time or money.

An excellent way to reduce the perceived risk of buying from you is to demonstrate that you clearly understand the prospects' problems. By clearly articulating the problem you show you understand it and have based your solution on it. The more specific you can be about the problem the better.

What seems to be the problem?
You might need to do some research to uncover your prospects and customers' biggest problems and greatest frustrations. Here's where to start:

• Network with prospects at trade shows and professional association meetings.
• Create customer and prospect questionnaires.
• Take a look at recent sales successes. What key problems did you solve for your customers? Talk to your salespeople. Interview customers directly if possible. Why did they choose you?
• Book a room in a restaurant and ask a group of customers to dinner. Pick their brains about their biggest problems.
• Look at your competitors. What problems do they promise to solve? Can you be a better problem solver or position yourself to solve different problems?

Give them a solution
You use the problem to get the prospect's attention. Once you've made them feel the pain bring out the solution. A problem naturally suggests a solution. So if you know what the problem is it's not difficult to position your product or service as the solution.

Solutions are pain relievers. Use case studies, before-and-after success stories, testimonials and guarantees to demonstrate how you solve customers' problems. Show them how you solve their problems using precise, specific evidence and credible claims.

Things to do:

• Do a problem and solution audit for your company and products or services.
• Rewrite your marketing messages around the problems you solve for customers. Always agitate the problem before you offer a solution.
• If you only have the budget for one brochure organise the contents around your customers' biggest problem and how you can solve it. You can use this problem-based brochure as a giveaway for a lead generation campaign.