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The Lead - Problems vs. Pain

I've been spending a lot of time lately helping clients think through outbound strategy. I've actually been thinking about it for my own business as well. I'll admit I have a tendency to over-analyze. I try to control every element that I can, in hopes that if I've done everything right, I'll get my desired result.

This edition isn't about that analysis-paralysis. But I do want to give you a view into my mindset around outbound and trying to capture people's attention in general. As someone who receives a lot of outbound (calls, emails, DMs), there is a common theme.

It would be too simple for me to categorize the failings I see as "irrelevance". That is the first bar to clear. When I think relevance, I think someone emailing me asking if they can buy my commercial property management company. I don't own one. Someone sold them a bad list, and they didn't take the time to vet that out.

I want to assume the best in you, dear reader. You understand that sending irrelevant emails to prospects is a waste of your time and theres. But there's another layer.

Once we've established basic relevance we have to understand that just because we're reaching the right person, doesn't mean we'll get our desired response. Even rightly identifying certain details of your prospect's situation, we haven't risen to the level of resonating and moving this person to action.

The place that we must start is the problem our audience has, and how it makes them feel. When we talk about "pain" this is what we mean. We don't just mean the problem. We all have problems, but they effect us in different ways.

Some of our problems are manageable. They don't occupy much of our headspace. We aren't frantically searching for solutions. We aren't lying awake at night thinking about them. We've learned to live with these more manageable problems day to day. We've accepted that they are there, and that we can live with them.

Those more pressing problems though, they keep us up. They require our attention. These are the problems that get in the way of everything else and so they have to be remedied, preferably quickly.

So, the first point of distinction here is about the problem you're solving. Most of us are not out solving the pressing problems. At a minimum, those with the pressing problems are finding you or someone like you. They took it upon themselves to take action because it was that important.

When talking to this type of prospect, it's not hard to uncover pain points. They're top of mind. Your main job is to establish why you're the right person to offer a solution. Your trust and credibility matters. Your pricing may even matter. But most often, there's a clear path to their understanding that a problem exists. If you haven't picked up on it, I'm describing your typical inbound lead. You won't close them all, but the fact they've reached out is an initial hurdle that has been cleared.

The challenge of outbound is that we are reaching out to prospects who may have problems we solve, but those problems may not cause active pain. The pain may be mild, manageable, and completely un-urgent. Even though solving the problem may make their lives better, there's a level of acceptance that it doesn't really require our immediate attention.

Now we get to the heart of it. Whether we realize it or not there's an emotion tied to the mundane and manageable problems. Even if the pain is simply an nuisance, it still occupies our brain space. We may even need to be reminded it exists.

Back when I sold insurance, we had a sales trainer who introduced me to the term "latent pain". Here's the definition Gemini gives:

Latent pain refers to pain that is present but not consciously perceived or experienced until specific factors trigger its activation.

Insurance as a whole, is a perfect example of this concept. All of us probably have an insurance policy of some sorts but rarely think about it. Could we be paying too much? Do we have enough coverage? Is our agent actively looking out for our best interests? Maybe. But it doesn't occupy much of our brain space unless something bad happens.

This is where having a keen understanding of our prospect really changes the game. If we put ourselves in their shoes of our potential customers, we can begin to understand the actual pain associated with the problem we solve. We can put words to a feeling that these people have experienced, even if it's not in the moment.

This concept doesn't just apply to our outbound efforts. It also applies to the conversations we have and our marketing messaging. If we're able to pinpoint the experience it shows we understand the problem. And we can't solve the problem unless we understand it.

I understand that this newsletter is pretty conceptual, so I'll make it practical here at the end and give a nod to my friends at ProfitCoach.

Most business owners would say they would like to be more profitable but they're also swamped in the day to day management of their company. They can't get above water enough to work on the business, not in it. If I were talking to a business owner and focused on how we can help them get more profitable, most would say yes. They might even feel moved to take action towards that end.

The problem is, once the conversation ends they would go right back to doing exactly what they did before. Answering emails, putting out fires etc. A better way for me to approach a business owner, would be to put my finger on what that lack of profitability is causing for them day to day. Lack of time with family, having to check emails on vacation, ignoring deferred initiatives for the business. Lack of profitability is the problem, the effects cause the pain. That's where you need to get to.

Hope this was worth your time. It can be a helpful exercise to physically write out the list of problems you solve, and the pain someone might experience because of them. Then reframe the way you approach your conversations and messaging.