This One Simple Question Will Help You Find Your Customer’s Pain Points

Fair warning…this is NOT an easy lesson…and wanna know what’s worse? You’re going to have to do this exercise FOR…EH…VER. If you don’t understand what issues and emotions your customer is facing, you’re posts, downloads and products are doomed to the sub par, digital trash can.

What are pain points?

Paint points are the problems causing your reader emotional angst. Pain points always correlate with an emotion such as irritation, annoyance, or general pissy-ness. These are legit problems that YOU can solve. Think about the last time your toilet overflowed. (I know…I took a bit of a leap with that one.) How relieved were you when you finally found a plumber (or plunger) that fixed your problem permanently? What was your level of relief? Who were you grateful TO? Roto-router? Home Depot? Who helped you fix your problem?

THIS is the emotion you want your readers to feel. Whether you are teaching your readers how to eat healthier or how to fit the perfect sized Vicki’s over the should boulder holder…you’re teaching them how to solve a problem they are having in their every day lives.

Why are they important?

Pain points don’t just allow you to empathize with your reader…they allow you to truly connect with them. More importantly? They allow you to replicate them…and placate them. How many times have you read an article or taken a course and thought….”PROBLEM SOLVED!!!! I JUST NEED TO GET TO WORK!!” It’s one of the best feelings EVER. Once you have a solution, and you FEEL like that solution with ease your irritation…you are on cloud nine.

It’s your goal, through your download, to help your readers get their foot in the door of club cloud nine…EVERY time.

 

How do you find out what they are?

THERE is the million dollar question. And I have the million dollar answer. (I have a million dollar download as well…). You need to ask your readers “Why?”. In fact, you need to ask your readers “Why?” five times…in a row.

Think about it as if you are a 5 year old.

“Why is the grass green?”

“Because God made it that way.”

“Why did God make it that way?”

“Because green looks tasty and animals eat things that are tasty.”

“Why do animals eat things that are tasty?”

“Because they have to live.”

“Why do they have to live?”

“Because we wouldn’t be able to survive without them.”

“Why wouldn’t we be able to survive?”

“Because we eat meat.”

Head/desk.

You just came up 5 different issues, and five different answers to those issues….for a five-year-old. Now, let’s take a more ADULT approach. Let’s say you write a blog for health food.

“Why should I eat healthy?”

“Because you’ll lose weight.”

“Why do I want to lose weight?”

“Because I’ll be able to be more active.”

“Why do I need to be more active?”

“Because then I can play with my children.”

“Why is playing with my children important?”

“Because I want to build a strong relationship with them and my future grandchildren.”

“Why is building a future with my grandchildren important?”

“Because family is everything.”

Soooo, moral of this exercise? Start eating healthy…because family is everything. If THAT doesn’t sound like a commercial for a diet plan, I don’t know what does.

Don’t worry if your questions are practically written by a five your old. They should have the “duh”, obvious answer!! Remember…you are trying to get from point A to point E here…and you want to your audience to EASILY follow your logic without having known the answers to the questions in the middle.

Pay attention to the silly questions in the middle, though!! These could very well be pain points for your customer. For example, in the above scenario, the pain points would be:

• They want to lose weight.
• They want to be more active in their lives and with their own family.
• They want to live a long, healthy life and see their children grow up to have children.

Action Steps

I recommend doing the “5 Why’s” exercise about 3 times to come up with as many pain points and solutions as possible.

This exercise is HUGE in helping you really get the hang of the MEANING behind the worksheet you are putting together…so I recommend printing out the question sheet a few times and using it whenever you are ready start a new download.

What’s Next? 

If you’re REALLY needing to step up your download, newsletter and funnel game this year…you’ll want to check out the FIRST PHASE of the “Wham! Bam! Business Plan” membership!! This phase of the membership site is dedicated to defining your ideal customer, refining your message, and polishing a stunning and stand-out brand that attracts your readers and customers like me to a cookie jar. 0_o

Click the button below to check out the membership, and join us for less than the cost of tonight’s dinner!!! (I’ll be in the kitchen…making cookies. *sigh*)