What Versus How

Within walking distance from my house is a little hardware store called Krueger's True Value. It's owned by Jim Krueger and his father and grandfather before him. When I ask Jim what his pain is, he tells me that customers are drawn to the big-box stores based on price, but that it's silly because their pricing is just as good.

It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out what problems our clients and prospects are facing these days:

Lack of employees/quality of workforce

Reduced store traffic or service usage

Increased competition/how to stand out, differentiate

Inflation and rising costs/reduced profitability

Supply chain challenges/inventory issues

Omnichannel and digital transformation of the path to purchase

Much of what you will uncover in a Customer Needs Analysis will fall into one of those six categories of pain for your clients and prospects. For years, in our teaching the Customer Needs Analysis, we have emphasized that the primary objective of conducting research and meeting with the client is to "find the pain." That's still true today.

Today, however, I'd like to suggest there is an even deeper goal. It's not just about finding the pain but also about having the client share with you "how" that pain is affecting them. How it's affecting them personally or in their business is where the real pain lives, and where the genuine opportunity to help exists.

Jim's pain is that he's losing customers over a misperception of his pricing compared to the big-box stores. But when I ask Jim the "impact" of that problem, literal tears well up in his eyes as he describes the declining sales as a result, the loss of profitability and the potential to have to reduce his employee count, cut costs and reduce the level of service he's famous for. He's also concerned about the long-term viability of his family's legacy business. That impact will motivate Jim to think differently about how to solve the problem.

Recognizing the seriousness of Jim's situation, I immediately went into a strategist mode, meaning that I dove a little deeper and discussed some ways that he could handle the misperceptions and promote his business and how radio and a multi-faceted strategy could help. I also worked through his misperceptions of radio.

When you find the pain, it's crucial to determine the impact on that client. Based on the list of pain points above, here are five impact questions: How are rising costs and inflation affecting your stress levels, decision-making and ability to invest in your business or personal life?

In what ways has changing consumer spending impacted your confidence in the future of your business and your sense of financial security?

How have supply chain disruptions forced you to make tough choices — such as disappointing customers or taking on more personal risk — and how has this affected your peace of mind?

What personal frustrations or pressures have you experienced while trying to keep up with digital and omnichannel demands, and how has this influenced your work-life balance?

How have labor shortages or rising employee costs affected your daily workload, relationships with your team and your overall satisfaction as a business owner? This week's encouragement is not to stop after finding the pain, but to dig deeper and understand the impact that pain is having on your clients. I'm not suggesting you bring your client to tears, but it's in that deep vulnerability where they clearly articulate how the problem or pain is impacting them that we can offer hope with a strategy and action plan to reduce that pain. Doesn't that sound better than "would you like to buy some spots?"

Think Big! Make Big Things Happen!

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@rab.com. You can all so connect with him on X and LinkedIn.