Understand the problem you're solving

Businesses leave incredible amounts of money on the table by not meeting their customers where they’re at. This leaves their customers confused and frustrated.

When a customer comes to your business, they are looking for a problem to be solved. The catch is: they don’t know what they really need.

You’re the expert. Your primary job is to educate them about their options, explaining the trade-offs and the costs.

Let’s say someone comes in to your HVAC business and they are looking for a heat pump. Do they really want a heat pump? Of course not.

We know this by simply asking “Why do you want that?”

“To be warm this winter.”

Let’s say you’re an accountant. If I come to you, am I hiring you to fill out a paper? Or to get the tax man off my back?

Ironically, businesses usually charge for the action and not the result. I’m happy to pay $50 per hour to fill out a form, but not $1000. But if you’re selling peace of mind, there is no upper limit on what you can charge.

Let’s say I need my roof cleared of snow because of leaking issues. Do I really want the snow cleared? Or am I just wanting peace of mind about the leaks? One is a rather menial task, the other has no upper bound on what you can charge.

What is most amazing is that because you know what the customer cares about, you make well-informed shortcuts to benefit both of you! If a certain area of the roof doesn’t leak, there’s no need to waste your time with it and their money!

What problems do your customers actually have when they come to you?