Nobody Wants Your Widget

It was a simple question and he danced around it. Or maybe he thought he had answered it.

But he definitely did not answer the question.

We all do it.

I do it with my wife sometimes. She'll ask me a question and I'll respond with what I think is an answer. Then she gets upset because I didn't answer the question she asked.

So I can hardly blame this guy for doing to me what I - apparently - do to my wife.

Still...

Why do we do that? Why do we not answer the question?

Is it because we don't listen? Or is it because we mentally leap ahead several steps in the conversation, only to find ourselves deep into the weeds?

...we mentally leap ahead several steps in the conversation...

I connect with hundreds of software CEOs every month. I ask this same question of every CEO I connect with:

What "Big Problem" does your company solve for your customers?

And that's when the pain begins for me. Because 99% of the CEOs I speak with don't answer my question.

They tell me what they make, or what they sell, or why their offering is superior. What they don't tell me is what problem they solve for their customers.

Why should I Listen If You Don't Understand Me?

"What "Big Problem" do you solve for your customers?"

Less than 1 in 10 of the CEOs I ask actually answer the question. The rest just tell me about their solutions...

It makes me want to scream...

"Nobody cares about your solution if you don't understand their problem! Nobody!"

Their websites reveal the same problem: when I go to their homepage, I can't tell what problem they solve.

Apparently their marketing people aren't getting the message either.

Solutions Looking for a Problem

Those of us in the business of selling seem to be afflicted with the same disease: we struggle to articulate our customer's problem... but we can talk for hours about our solution.

This is Marketing 101, gang. Nobody wants your widget; they want a solution to their problem. And if you don't understand their problem, you can be damn sure they aren't interested in your solution.

...we struggle to articulate our customer's problem... but we can talk for hours about our solution.

You want to grab their attention? You want to keep their attention long enough to deliver your message?

Then articulate their problem in language they understand. Better yet - articulate the problem in their own words.

Yes, there is more to marketing than this. But it absolutely has to start there.

If you waste your prospects' extremely short attention span talking about product specifications or industry awards or technological breakthrough, you've lost them, because...

They. Don't. Care.

Here's what EVERYONE ON PLANET EARTH cares about: their own problems.

In the commercial space, where we live and die by our ability to meet the needs of our market, your customers DO NOT CARE about your problems. They care about THEIR problems.

Again, Marketing 101.

How To Fix Your "Problem" Problem

How can you be sure you are communicating the problem? Here's a quick, easy hack:

Find a friend who knows nothing about your company or your offering. Have them ask you the same question: "what Big Problem do you solve for your customers?"

Then answer that question in a single sentence. Don't talk about your solution. Just talk about the problem you solve.

Then ask them to restate the problem back to you in their own words.

If they can restate the problem, then you win. If they can't, then your message needs refining. (This is what marketing people are supposed to be good at.)

Repeat the exercise with your website. If a random person coming to your website can't figure out the problem you solve within 20 seconds of seeing your homepage, then you lose.

I know this seems pedantic, I really do. I know this is obvious. I know this is taught in every marketing class in every business school in the world.

But almost no one actually practices it.

Sermon over.