ASKING THE RIGHT CUSTOMER QUESTION | MARKETING MYTHBUSTERS

Most marketers and salespeople think the customer already understands they have a problem that needs addressing, hopefully by buying whatever it is you're selling. But the truth is, only a tiny fraction of your addressable market understands they have a problem. Some are blissfully unaware until the problem's pointed out to them, but others are deliberately unaware since they think it's too much trouble, time, or money to make the problem go away. Marketers and salespeople assume the people they're speaking to already recognize they have a problem, when the fact is most don't. In which case, you have to start from where they are, from being unaware or unwilling to admit that they have a problem, to a place of realisation and recognition. So how do you do that? Well, not by asking problem questions, but by asking symptom questions. Because once they recognise the symptoms of the problem, they'll be more open to hearing about solutions to the problem.