How Empathy Can Help You Win More Deals (With Examples)

Problems are everywhere, and there is no shortage of opportunities, and let’s face it, problems are opportunities, but just the ones that you want.

While times get challenging for some of us, for others, it presents limitless opportunities.

Here are a few ideas about the type of problems you can help to solve, and 3 tips on how to execute on them.

Problems that many businesses struggle with every day:

• Finding new customers
• Keeping existing customers
• Selling more to existing customers
• Improving the service offered to existing customers
• Reducing personnel/business costs
• Reducing customer complaints
• Decreasing the time it takes getting to the market
• Improving market share
• Embracing and using new technology
• Improving team/business morale
• Developing new products

And this list isn’t even scratching the surface, everywhere you look businesses face problems. So you would be much better finding out how to build solutions to these problems, rather than building products to problems that no one actually has.

Hours, upon hours of time is wasted by companies and executives thinking of cool new products that will rock the world, only to find out that the people and companies who the product was created have no need, let alone want for it.

And there’s a massive clue in my last paragraph, WANT vs NEED.

Sell people what they WANT, not what they NEED, you’ll likely go bust trying to get people to buy what they need. 

Sell them what they want, educate them on what they need.

Try spending more time finding problems to solve?

Look at the list I just mentioned…

• Finding new customers
• Keeping existing customers
• Selling more to existing customers
• Improving the service offered to existing customers

etc..

How many companies that are local to you struggle with any of the mentioned situations? Chances are you can probably think of half a dozen without even trying.

Does your product solve any of these challenges, can you help your prospect find new customers?

Can you help them retain their customers? Do you help them innovate, adjust, and improve the service your prospects offer to their clients.

Often the hardest thing to do is STOP, stop what you’re doing, stop the habit of being busy, to stop long enough for you to put yourself in your prospects shoes.

For you to show real empathy towards your prospect, I’m not talking about hows your family; I’m talking about really understanding your prospect, the way they think, the way they feel, to really understand their emotions. 

I want you to connect with your prospect, connect as you’ve never connected with anyone before.

Here are 3 ways that you can find which problems to help your prospects solve:

1. Talk to the customer.

Talk to the potential customer, you cant identify a customers problem by presenting your product, nor can you help them by trying to solve problems they feel are an un-important or low priority. You must try and solve the right problem, and the only way you will discover this is by actually talking with them.

2. Explore the problem.

Find out how severe the problem is, how often does it occur, and when this problem is present, what circumstances arise. Has it gotten worse, and more importantly, what is the implication of the problem continually occurring.

Having the customer become fully aware of the problem makes it much more real for them, and helps them to see, and realise that they need to find a solution.

3. What & When Criteria.

Be sure to discuss with the customer what the decision process and criteria will involve, how will you and the customer make a decision, when is the right time or deadline to decide. 

How will you measure the progress, and how will you measure the results?

Find out what leads the customer to feel there is a problem, can the customer define the problem. Stop selling and start listening, then sell a solution to the problem given.

Put these 3 tips to the test, connect with your audience, your prospect and try to understand them, their problems, challenges and how they think and feel.

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