Entrepreneurship: How to build on customers ' pain points

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How do entrepreneurs make sure that customers are buying before products and services exist? To answer this question, you need to answer another question: Why do people buy it? Here are two basic answers, people usually spend money on two things: first, they often spend money on fighting pain, and second, They spend their money on the pursuit of pleasure.

There is a reason to put pain and happiness together in this order. Everything is equal, and when a pain or a problem is deeper and heavier, the more likely you are to find a way to fight it. The more you can fight the pain, the quicker the customer will buy it. From an entrepreneur's point of view, this means that "painful business" is often better than "doing a happy business". The business of dealing with pain is often better in endurance.

Entrepreneurs often end up "customer pain" as a synonym for "customer needs" or "customer problems". It may be exaggerated and ironic to be in the name of "soothing customer pain" while selling gadgets or new clothes. But emphasizing "customer pain" rather than emphasizing need or preference is also to illustrate the point: customers are people. They feel the world through the prism of experience. They can feel that something is challenging or interfering with them--yes, their pain is interfering with them. But people often can't think of a solution to the pain--it's the need to build on pain.

So turn your eyes to pain. Think about things that make people feel uneasy, frustrated, urgent or uncomfortable. Then with these clear understanding and mindful of the pain of the heart, develop treatment methods, and the development of the focus on "recovery recovery." When you try to invest in an entrepreneurial venture, "Let the pain disappear" can be your guide. Beyond that, you need to focus not only on identifying the pain points, but also on when people think this need is the most urgent. Solving a current intense pain point can be a more marketable proposition than solving something less serious. For instance, it's always easier to sell aspirin than to sell vitamins.

The human desire to end pain also applies to corporate customers. Businesses are generally trying to do two things: increase sales and reduce costs. If you can get corporate customers to look for new markets, make new products or even increase the price of existing ones, you'll be able to address their pain in increasing sales. If you can provide an innovative way for corporate customers to manage their workforce and build their infrastructure, then you'll be able to cut costs to solve their pain.

The last thing to consider is that customers and end-users are not necessarily the same person. If you sell games or toys, your users are often children, but in fact those who buy your product are likely to be parents. Similarly, if you are a Google user, but only if you use Google adwords, you are Google's customers.

Test the pain of the customer

If you have a new entrepreneurial idea, would you like to verify that you have caught the customer's real pain point? Here's an easy way: Ask yourself, can you describe in a few words: What are the pain points your company is dealing with? Why do people need to care about this? Meanwhile, Can you use this simple explanation to get one of your potential customers to buy your account?

If that's all you can do, congratulations. You are already ahead of most entrepreneurs. Innovators and entrepreneurs who need a lot of text to describe the market or convince potential customers can say they haven't fully refined their business.

Think of the most successful companies in the world, the companies that have been our benchmark. You may be able to quickly tell what these companies do, and this is often the pain of customers they solve. If you can't explain the pain of a soothing customer, is this fact fatal? It may eventually, but it may just mean that your entrepreneurial philosophy is not fully formed. Many excellent entrepreneurs want to know the best use of their products through countless iterations. It takes time to find the pain point.

Identify intangible needs

The needs of many customers cannot be fully understood or clearly expressed by the customer. Why buy an ipod without buying a MP3 player that isn't so expensive? Why drive a Lexus instead of a Toyota? Why choose a particular brand in carbonated beverages that are all artificial sweeteners? Usually the answers and functions of these questions are irrelevant and more related to image, feeling and intangible assets.

For example, clothing brand AF (Abercrombie & Fitch) reached 3.5 billion dollars in 2010. Its sports clothing store has a century of history. What makes it different from other competitors? Their focus is not on selling clothes, but selling lifestyles and promises. When you walk into the store, you can see the big picture of the beautiful youth poster with the clothes on and enhance your impression of AF. Do you always think that getting better looks requires painful dieting and exercise? The message from this store is that what you really need is a 120 dollar pair of jeans and a 70 dollar T-shirt.

When we take the demand of intangible assets as a part of customer pain, we tend to become cynical. Of course, the demand for some intangible assets looks silly, but part of them is reasonable and even important. Sometimes as an entrepreneur, you need to know that these may be the most intense pain that needs to be emphasized.

Find a new customer pain point

Creative breakthroughs often lead to new customer pain points. For example, no one needs a car until someone starts making a car. No one needs identity theft protection or credit monitoring until someone creates a personal credit report to solve the problem of borrowing.

When Apple first launched its ipod, it was in the heyday of Napster, and people were free to share music on the Internet. But the wide acceptance of the product by customers can be said to have found an unmet new demand: Customers want to be able to get the music they want quickly, easily and relatively cheaply, and another need may be more important to them, legally acquired. So itunes was born and became one of Apple's most successful products.

Meanwhile, Apple's ipod is designed to work with headphones only. Users can transmit and play music in new ways, but they cannot share it aloud. This is another new pain point, so many other companies are starting to develop ipod hardware, such as external speakers and docking stations.

So be wary of trends and innovations, but don't rush into the market like other entrepreneurs do, but instead focus on the new pain points that each entrepreneur generates, even if he offers a solution that is unrelated to your product. Copycat You'll find some inspiration because:

Customer pain is the ultimate renewable resource.

Via FastCompany