Mastering the 3 Types of Customer Problems - Part 1

To run high-value discovery you need to put your customer's problems at the center of the conversation. If you don't, they'll lose confidence in your ability to solve them!

But there are three challenges with that:

1. Their basic problems aren't compelling: talking about the things they already know about is low-value and won't set you apart.

2. They don't trust you with their REAL problems: the good stuff is often confidential, sensitive, embarrassing, and none of your business!

3. Some of the best problems are ones they don't even know they have: how can they tell you something they're not aware of?

These are what I refer to as the:

1. Known-Spoken problems
2. Known-Unspoken problems
3. Unknown-Unspoken problems

So before you even ask your first discovery question, you need to identify what these three types of problems are for YOUR ideal customer or you won't know how to drive the highest-value conversations! 

In this video, I explore the first two.

[AnthonyEnglish]

Embarrassment is a big factor here with the known unspoken. When the customer says: “it’s okay”, and both you and they no it’s NOT okay, it’s critical to create a safe space for them to open up.

Great video, David!