How to Build a Customer Needs Profile to turn Customer Pain Points into Sales
What are Customer Needs?
At its core, a customer need is a problem your product or service solves for a person, and therefore, the reason a customer will buy from you.
Understanding your customer’s needs and being able to easily explain what your product or services do for your customer is essential for you to drive the growth of your business.
Here is what we will cover:
Why is it Important to Define Customer Needs?
Customer Needs Analysis
Client Needs Check List – Step by Step
Why is it Important to Define Customer Needs?
The more clearly you describe the customer’s problem, the easier it will be to:
- Attract customers who have the problem you can solve
- Show the customer how your product or service provides the best solution available
TIP: As you grow your business you can learn more about their needs through interviews, surveys, and client feedback forms
Customer Needs Analysis
By properly understanding and defining your customer’s needs you will be able to tailor your marketing messages delivered by your website, sales staff, and marketing to provide the best client satisfaction and client acquisition.
Client Needs Check List – Step by Step
The first question we need to ask ourselves when defining our customers’ needs is a simple one:
What are your three top-selling products or services?
List each of them. If you have less than three that’s ok, just list what you have at this point in your business.
Next, we will look at what these products or services do for your customer.
For each product or service, you have listed, you will choose how to categorize them using one of three options: fix, satisfy, or provide.
Let us dig a little deeper into each of these:
Fix a Problem
If you chose Fix a Problem, your product or service directly aids the customer in resolving an issue.
Satisfy a Need
If you choose Satisfy a Need, you would be fulfilling something that may or may not necessarily be a problem, but the customer is looking to purchase a product or service to help them.
This is typically more related to comfort.
Providing a Benefit
If you chose Providing a Benefit, your product or service might not be necessary for day-to-day life, but it makes life easier. Products or services that provide a benefit are both physical and mental in nature. They typically offer tangible results and also provide peace-of-mind to the customer.
Task
For each response now define what the issue, need or benefit is.
Remember to ask each time – What is the problem you are solving, what is the need you are fulfilling, or what is the benefit you are providing.