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Focus on the Problem

Written by: Mark Deo

Article Overview: The problem is often more important than the solution when it comes to the rules of attraction. Figuring out what these problems are, is key to your success in the business world. After following the four simple steps in this article and finding problems that your prospects are facing, your marketing techniques will be as easy as saying "Trick or Treat."

Focus on the Problem

"Ding dong," chimed the doorbell, so I ran to open the door. I was shocked to see a vampire, witch, and football player all standing on my doorstep. Creepy music blared in the background, with muffled screams audible under the sounds of creaking doors, howling wolves, and the song "Monster Mash" by Bobby Pickett.

"Trick or treat!" came the cry from the costumed children.

I threw some candy in their bags, and off they went.

This is a cycle that is repeated time and time again on Halloween. Wouldn't it be nice if getting business was that simple? Imagine if we could waltz into a prospects office and say the “magic phrase” and they would hand over the business like candy. Unfortunately in the real world competing effectively involves more than simply asking for the business. In fact the more we chase customers around, the further they seem to retreat. Yet what if there were a way to “attract” customers without chasing them?

It is for this reason that we have developed our “14 rules of attraction.” Let us examine one of them in more detail.

Rule number 3: The problem is more important than the solution.

Too often marketers make broad assumptions when communicating their message to clients. This happens in both the selling interaction (face-to-face and on the phone) as well as the marketing interaction (with ads, brochures and web sites.) This is a natural tendency since as marketers we know far more about our products and services than our customers. In many cases we may know what the customer needs more than they do themselves. The danger, however, is that the customers don't care about the benefits and solutions that our company offers. Let me repeat that: CUSTOMERS DON'T CARE ABOUT OUR BENEFITS AND SOLUTIONS!

I can imagine people everywhere are reading this right now saying that I'm crazy. Traditional sales and marketing methods teach that we should elaborate on our features and benefits, and prospects will see how they can be helped by our solutions, and they will logically decide to buy. This assumption is the root of why most sales and marketing attempts fall on deaf ears. First off people today make buying decisions more emotionally than ever before. Our prospects and customers care FAR more about their problems than they ever will about our solutions!

It is important that we speak to our prospects and customers in terms of their problems! By doing so, they become comfortable with our solutions, not based on logic. Rather it is based on their emotional reaction to the fact that we actually have taken the time to understand their problems. The solutions we offer then become the natural choice to help solve those problems.

This is why it is important that we focus on the problem, instead of on the solution. How do we do this? We have developed a four step method for creating a problem mindset that you can use to speak intelligently with your prospects and customers about their problems.

Step one:
Identify the major problems your prospects and customers are facing. Put yourself in their shoes. Brainstorm with your colleagues. Even better, ask some of your existing clientele what THEIR problems are. Chances are there are many prospects just like them.

Step two:
Figure out what exclusive or unique solutions to these problems you offer. Why is what you do different enough from your competitors to make it the only solution to the problems you've identified? How can you use this knowledge to develop marketing language that speaks in terms of the problems that you have identified?

Step three:
Analyze the problems and your solutions to find what you can do that reverses the risk of using your company to solve their problems. Reducing their risk will be your ace in the hole when it comes to presenting a solution once you have made your prospects realize that you understand their problems.

Step four:
Find some evidence you can offer that shows that your exclusive solution actually works. Once you have shown a prospect that you understand their problem, that you have an exclusive solution, and that there is little to no risk in using your solution, your evidence will build credibility for all of the claims you've made. Use testimonials, examples, demonstrations- any form of evidence you can to back up all of your claims.

Whether you are talking to prospects in the selling role or preparing marketing material that will be used to create attraction, I encourage you to go out and find some problems that your prospects are facing. Focus on these problems when you prepare your message. This is as close as a marketer can come to saying "Trick or Treat" in the business world.

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Article Tags: assumptions, bobby pickett, creepy music, ding dong, doorbell, doorstep, football player, howling wolves, magic phrase, marketers, marketing methods, monster mash, muffled screams, natural tendency, prospects, rules of attraction, sales and marketing, waltz, witch, wolves



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How to get financed - We looked at doing the same thing. Problem is you own the truck out-rite, so most require a add on to your title or release of title to them for liability should you default. Contact Kevin at RV Lending, he assisted us with our stacker transporter, pretty easy to deal with and straight up with the answers before you give all you personal information. Good luck


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