Kids running in every direction, thousands of shuffling feet, and Gen-Zers hypnotized by their Tik-Tok notifications stopping in the middle of the sidewalk.
As a nature-loving introvert, navigating the chaotic streets makes my insides hot like lava.
Your customers feel the same frustration maneuvering through your website.
They want to know what you do and how it’s going to improve their life.
They want answers, and they want them at lightning speed.
If your website and content fail to deliver concise knowledge about how you’ll save them time, money, or resources— they’ll tap that x button quicker than your free newsletter can appear on their screen.
You’ve worked through the blood, sweat, and tears to figure out your customers’ pain points, but you’ve failed to acknowledge one MAJOR problem…
It’s difficult to buy from you.
Feel triggered?
Don’t worry. We were in your shoes, too, once.
At the end of this article, you’ll be a master at reducing customer pain points through our 3-step approach so that your leads follow through with their purchase every time.
What are customer pain points?
Let’s start with a definition:
Customer pain points are challenges that your existing and prospective customers are facing while interacting with your business.
There are many pain points a customer might have with your company, and understanding them by category is essential to craft detailed solutions around each.
Examples of customer pain points
Pain points are specific to your business and niche, but overall we see them form into four separate groupings. From the time a customer lands on your website to the time they click the “purchase” button (or sign a contract), their experience should be enjoyable. By resolving their pain points every step of the way, you’ll increase your chances of securing a sale.
Here are some categories of customer pain points:
- Productivity
- Financial
- Process
- Support
Ok, let’s dig deeper into these customer pain point examples starting with productivity.
Productivity pain points
Nobody wants to work with a business that is unorganized and difficult to understand or communicate with. That’s why you need to put progressive interactions and systems in place for your audience.
On another note, the need for productive solutions is also a pain point. Most people would love a solution that helps them be better or quicker at what they do, so if your service/product solves that, then focus on the productivity pain point.
An example of a B2B business that hits the nail on the head solving this productivity problem for sales representatives is Calendy. It could be time-consuming to schedule sales calls (especially if your business is international), but with Calendy’s scheduling link, you can customize time slots so prospects can easily book a time they’re free.
The best part? It automatically converts time zones, so there’s no confusion on either end for International calls.
Any way you can increase their comfort and convenience – for instance, offering payment plans or free trials – the more likely they’ll feel supported by your brand. Persuade others how your business helps others save time, money, and energy, and they’ll keep coming back for more!
Financial pain points
Most people wouldn’t mind saving a couple of bucks, so appealing to their need to save money while receiving quality products/services is always a plus!
Here are some examples of financial pain points your audience might be experiencing:
“I got to the checkout, and the total was way more than previously stated.”
“My membership fees are too high.”
“There was an unexpected increase in subscription prices without prior warning.”
“These products only last me x amount of months before breaking even though I was promised they’d last longer than that.”
See a pattern here?
Transparency is key. People don’t like to be led on, and they certainly aren’t fools. Underpromising and over-delivering will take you much farther with your customers than the other way around.
Process pain points
We touched on this earlier, but let’s chat about it more in detail. Your internal processes or the less than excellent experience your customer has with your brand is another major pain point.
To paint the picture, let’s say your call center is only open for 10 hours each day, but your customers are left hanging on your website. They require your 24/7 undivided attention to ease their concerns. Your competitor, on the other hand, is open 24/7.
Which business do you think your customer is going with? Yep, the one that can serve them at all hours.
This, of course, is not realistic for some businesses, especially smaller ones. But understanding the most common pain points of the majority of your customers will help you prioritize solutions. And, sometimes, all it takes is a conversation with your clients so that you can see problems from their perspective.
Support pain points
Remember how we just spoke about processes? Well, providing support is part of a buyer’s cycle. They want to feel nurtured and at ease when buying from you. They want their hand held.
When a customer cannot find the answer they’re looking for either from your website or on social media, the chances are high that they’ll go elsewhere.
Our advice? Over-explain using explainer videos, blog articles, case studies, and social media swipe files. The more information told in multiple formats that you have posted online, the greater the chances that they’ll get their questions answered and feel fully educated about what they’re getting from you.
Another pro tip is to keep a FAQ section somewhere on your website and reassess those every couple of months to keep it updated. That way, they can find the answers to their burning questions themselves.
While explainer videos, blogs, and case studies are excellent ways to reduce customer pain points, another way to help support them is through the language you use. Whether on the phone with a potential customer or going live to a roomful of your target audience, here’s an example of what to say (and what not to say):
Do say:
“How can I help you?”
Stay away from:
“How can we help you?”
Why? When using a singular pronoun, you subconsciously let the consumer know you’re not hiding behind a company persona and are more likely to be siding with the customer. In fact, by using singular pronouns, a study showed a 7% increase in sales.
Ultimately, the more you can put yourself in your customers’ shoes, the more likely they’ll buy from your business.
Identifying customer pain points
Now that you know the “what”, let’s talk about the “how” part. How will you identify your customers’ pain points?
You might be thinking… “pssshhh, it’s easy,” but the reality is, unveiling your customers’ pain points is like peeling an onion. You have to do it one at a time, and it takes a bit of time until you get to the core.
Let’s start with some low-hanging fruit: qualitative customer research.
Conduct qualitative customer research
This approach requires you to conduct interviews in focus groups, online forums, and questionnaires to collect responses from people who fit your ideal buyer persona or your actual customers.
Qualitative customer research goes deeper into their thoughts about your products or services instead of asking basic yes or no questions. By asking more open-ended questions, you’ll likely gather new pain points you might not have thought of before.
Newer versions of qualitative customer research include lifestyle immersion or “shop alongs”. In both situations, you’d get to see what the customer experiences in the comfort of their own home (lifestyle immersion) and shop alongs allow you to see the exact responses customers have while shopping online.
Whichever option you see fit for your company, conducting qualitative customer research regularly helps you feel more connected and empathic towards their pain points. In return, it becomes easier to tweak your business positioning to fit their needs.
Read online reviews
Reviews are a great place to peruse for pain points. Check out Yelp, Amazon reviews, and social media comments. If you don’t mind getting lost in a rabbit hole, Reddit and Quora also provide some really raw feedback that might just be the hidden gems you’re looking for.
For example, let’s look at a 3-star review on this laptop from Amazon:
Reading this review, it’s evident that the camera on the computer is less than par. Knowing this, Lenovo could adjust the abilities of the camera for newer models.
Aside from acknowledging customer pain points through reviews, you can also identify what your competitors are not doing, and you can observe the language your target audience is using and use those as advantages.
Research what pain points your competitors are addressing
Speaking of competitors, our next tip is to do a deep dive into what they’re addressing. When you do this, it becomes clear what makes your business unique so that you can highlight that.
Now, here are some things to keep in mind when doing this research.
First off—there are two types of competitors; direct and indirect. Direct competitors sell the same products or services like you to the same group of people. On the other hand, indirect competitors sell a similar product/service but to a different group of people (or vice versa). Understanding the difference could help you see your offerings in a new light.
For product-based businesses, we recommend Product Hunt and Crunchbase for details on similar companies.
Secondly, here are some specifics to look out for once you’re on their website:
- Pain points they’re tackling and how they’re doing it
- Services they offer on their landing page
- Topics they address on their blog
Pro-tip: sign up for their newsletter to get the inside scoop on what value they bring via email.
Analyze your customer’s journey
Get your microscope out and analyze your customer’s journey. By doing so, you’ll get the bigger picture and the small details so that you can pound out any kinks in the process. Question everything – from “how did they find my business?” to “why did they leave our product in their cart without purchasing?”
Dissecting their journey with a fresh pair of eyes could also bring you a new perspective and help you see blind spots you didn’t think of before.
Organize qualitative sales research
Including your sales team in your qualitative research is critical. They’re the ones who converse with your customers most of the time, so they’re likely to know their small nuances and quirks.
Getting input from your sales team helps you pinpoint operational challenges from actual pain points. For instance, if morale is low or your team blames a new competitor for your lack of sales, this has more to do with behind-the-scenes challenges.
An open dialogue helps you understand your target audience and sets your brand up for success.
How to address customer pain points
Now it’s time to take action and put this knowledge to the test with our 3-step process.
Create A Solution To Your Customer’s Pain Points
You’ve collected the details, now it’s time to brainstorm how to implement them.
Use marketing automation to ensure an ongoing flow of communication between you and your customer. Integrating multiple mediums of communication, like Whatsapp, live chats, and contact field forms, also helps customers feel more comfortable and confident with your company.
Consistently listening to your customers and tidying up your internal processes give you more brain space to implement creative solutions. Marketing automation personalizes messages to customers and creates lasting relationships.
To add, it acts as a central hub for all your data and social media platforms, so you don’t feel like a chicken with your head cut off trying to run your business.
Use Similar Language As Your Customer When Talking About The Pain Points
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) involves analyzing how thoughts, language, and behavioral patterns affect an outcome. By understanding the basic principles of how humans work, we can manipulate them in certain scenarios.
Now, I know what you’re thinking… manipulate sounds like a yucky word. And this could be used in harmful ways. But if you know what you’re doing, it could be used the right way, for the right purpose.
For the sake of this article, we’re going to discuss a part of NLP—language.
When we “mirror” what others are saying, especially customers, there’s a higher percentage that they’ll resonate more with what we’re saying.
Let’s explore a couple of examples together.
Customer: “Will you call me tomorrow for a follow-up?”
You: “Yes, I will call you tomorrow for a follow-up.”
You could have easily said, “yep, talk to you then,” but by using their language, you’ve moved the needle a bit closer towards the outcome you desire.
Okay, now that you’re done with psychology class, it’s time for step #3.
Explain Your Solution Through Informational Content
Consumers are 131% more likely to buy from a brand immediately after consuming early-stage, educational content. With that being said, whip out those explainer videos!
In all seriousness, different forms of content marketing – whether via Twitter, Instagram, or your blog – is the key to standing out and being that go-to voice in your industry.
When you truly understand your audience’s problems, you can create unique content around them that’s personalized to their lifestyle. Doing so also helps you answer their questions before they even know they have them!
Here’s a quick example of an educational Linkedin post that was trending and on-point with customer pain points:
Address your customer pain points and watch your business grow
Now, time for a pop quiz.
- What are the 4 types of customer pain points?
→ Productivity, financial, process, support
- How can you identify customer pain points?
→ Through qualitative customer research, online reviews, competitor research, analyzing your customer journey, and getting your sales team’s insights
- What is the 3-step approach to implementing your customer’s pain points?
→ Step 1 – create a solution to their pain points using marketing automation
→ Step 2 – speak their language
→ Step 3 – use educational content marketing
How’d you do? A+?
