#MiPDV – Is The Problem Worth Solving?

The neighbor called. Their lawn service mowed part of our lawn.?

Why is that a problem? Let’s start with a bit of perspective.?

The neighbor’s property included a small strip of grass that adjoined our lawn. The strip was small – about a meter in width at one end, and it narrowed to almost nothing at the other end.?

Their lawn service usually cut the grass shorter than I did; the longer length simply worked better for our lawn, and it allowed the grass to look greener.??

So, when they cut that strip of grass, there was an obvious difference between their cut and mine, and it made both yards look worse.?

It looked like a bad haircut.?

To avoid the bad lawn cut, I spoke with the owner of the lawn service. “I had an idea,” I told him. “What if I cut that strip so the lawns are even?”?

He laughed and said he was about to come see me to have the same conversation. He said he thought it would look better.?

Just like that, we had an agreement – one that his crew faithfully kept unless they had a brand-new crew member who was a bit quicker than the crew chief. And the newbies never made the mistake twice.?

For years, I cut that small strip. It was so small that it took only a minute or two for me to mow it.

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So, back to the neighbor’s call. They were upset and offered to pay for any damage to our lawn.?

We calmed them down, first telling them that there was no damage. The only thing was that their grass was a little shorter than ours, and like a bad haircut, the grass would grow so the difference would not be noticeable. In fact, the height difference would probably go away the next time I mowed.?

From our perspective, there was no problem worth solving.??

And that’s the point for today – sometimes you’ll come across a problem that is not worth solving. In some cases, like the neighbor’s call, there was no real pain being experienced. In other cases, you find out that it’s just not worth the time and effort to solve it.?

You’ve probably seen it many times in your career. Perhaps there is an annoying problem that never seems to get fixed. The reason? It’s easier to live with it than to fix it.

I’ve seen sales reps run into this issue many times. The enthusiastic rep believes their product, service, or solution is the absolute best in the world, and they believe that every company should buy it.

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Yet they may not make the sale.?

Why??

A common cause I’ve seen is that the sales rep does not help the customer see why the problem needs to be solved.?

The rep forgets that customers face a multitude of challenges in their business. The solutions they buy are for their most pressing problems. If the rep doesn’t show the customer that the problem their product, service, or solution solves is not one of their most pressing problems, then the customer won’t buy.?

Which is why, when we encounter a problem, we should ask ourselves whether the problem is worth solving.?

Often, you’ll find that it’s not – it is simply not causing sufficient pain to warrant the time and effort to solve it.?

So how do you determine if a problem is worth solving? Here are some things I think about that may be useful:?

• What inconvenience or pain is the problem causing?
• How many people are experiencing the pain? Do they agree that it’s an issue?
• What could be done to solve the pain? What alternatives are there?
• What would be the time, cost, and effort to implement a solution?
• Is the cost to implement the solution less than the cost and inconvenience of living with the problem?
• Do we need to solve this problem now? If not, when should it be considered??

Bottom line: if the cost and effort to solve a problem outweighs the inconvenience of living with the problem, then it may be worth solving.?

Otherwise, it’s not worth solving and it’s best to move on.?

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That’s mi punto de vista #MiPDV.