Did you know that acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing one? Studies show that 65% of a company’s business comes from existing customers. That means that retaining loyal customers is more profitable than acquiring new ones. The truth is, building customer loyalty is a crucial factor in the success of any business. Customers who are loyal to your brand not only make repeat purchases but also become advocates for your product or service, spreading positive word-of-mouth and driving more sales.
But how do you create a product that your customers can’t live without? How do you make your product a painkiller, not a vitamin? In this article, I will show you how to understand your customers’ pain points, deliver value that solves their problems, and build trust and loyalty that lasts.
I have a confession to make: I’m addicted to chocolate biscuits. I can’t resist their crunchy texture, their rich flavour, and their sweet filling. I always have a pack in my pantry, and I often sneak one (or two, or three) when I need a break from work or stress. They are my go-to snack, my comfort food, and my guilty pleasure.
Why am I telling you this? Because chocolate biscuits are a perfect example of a painkiller product. A painkiller product is one that solves a real problem for your customers, one that they are willing to pay for and use regularly. A painkiller product is not a nice-to-have, but a must-have. It’s not a vitamin that you take occasionally to boost your health, but a medicine that you need to cure your pain.
Creating a painkiller product is not just about creating something that people like. It’s about creating something that people need, something that solves a problem or makes their lives easier in a significant way. For me, chocolate biscuits were a small but effective solution to my stress and anxiety. For others, it might be a specific software that simplifies a complicated task, a gadget that makes their daily routine easier, or a service that solves a pressing problem.
When you create a painkiller product, you tap into a powerful force that goes beyond customer satisfaction. You create loyal customers who will keep coming back to you, not just because they like your product, but because they need it. And when you can fulfil that need, you create a connection with your customers that goes beyond business – you create a relationship built on trust, reliability, and empathy.
Creating a painkiller product is the ultimate goal of any business. It’s the secret to standing out from the crowd and beating your competitors. It’s the way to turn your product into a habit that your customers crave.
Get to know your customers’ pain points
Meet Dave. Dave is a freelance web designer who works from home. He’s passionate about his work and takes great pride in delivering high-quality projects for his clients. However, he’s also faced with a unique set of challenges and struggles in his daily life.
Dave’s number one every day is to stay focused and productive throughout the day. With the constant distractions of email notifications, social media updates, and other digital noise, he often finds himself struggling to stay on task and meet his deadlines.
Picture this. Dave is trying to work on a project, but he keeps getting interrupted by a never-ending stream of notifications. “Oh, look, someone just liked my cat picture on Instagram,” he says, clicking away from his work. “And now I have a new email – I’d better check that too.” Dave’s productivity suffers as a result, and he starts to feel frustrated and overwhelmed.
Now, imagine that your company has developed a new productivity software that helps users stay focused and on task throughout the day. The software blocks distracting websites and notifications, and provides gentle reminders to help users stay on track.
What do you think will happen if Dave discovers your software and decides to give it a try? As soon as he starts using it, he will feel a sense of relief and focus that he hasn’t experienced in a long time. With the distractions out of the way, he’ll be able to focus on his work and deliver high-quality projects for his clients. The software has become a painkiller for Dave, helping him to overcome his daily struggles and become more productive.
Creating a painkiller product is all about understanding your customers’ needs and addressing their pain points in a meaningful way. There are many ways to understand your customers’ needs, but here are some quick steps you can take:
- Define your target market and customer segments. Who are you trying to serve and why? What are their characteristics, behaviours, and preferences?
- Conduct customer research and feedback. Use surveys, interviews, focus groups, reviews, social media, and analytics to collect data and insights from your customers. Ask them about their problems, goals, expectations, and satisfaction with your product or service.
- Analyze your customer data and identify patterns. Look for common themes, trends, gaps, and opportunities in your customer data. What are the most pressing pain points your customers face? What are the benefits they seek? What are the barriers they encounter?
- Create customer personas and journey maps. Based on your customer data, create realistic profiles of your ideal customers that capture their demographics, psychographics, motivations, and behaviours. Then map out their journey from awareness to loyalty, highlighting their touchpoints, emotions, and pain points along the way.
- Validate your assumptions and test your solutions. Before launching your product or service, make sure you have validated your assumptions about your customers’ needs and pain points. Use prototypes, MVPs, experiments, and user testing to get feedback from real customers and measure their responses. Iterate and improve your solutions based on the results.
Develop a solution that wows your customers
Developing a solution that wows your customers is not easy, but it’s essential if you want to create a painkiller product. A wow solution is one that exceeds your customers’ expectations, delivers exceptional value, and solves their pain points in a unique and memorable way.
Delivering value that solves your ideal customer’s problems is the essence of creating a painkiller product. But what does value mean in this context? Value is not just about the features or benefits of your product or service. It’s about how your solution helps your customer achieve their desired outcome and improve their situation.
To deliver value that solves your customer’s problems, you need to understand three things:
- The problem: What is the pain point or challenge that your customer faces? What is the root cause of their problem? How does it affect their life or work?
- The outcome: What is the goal or result that your customer wants to achieve? How do they measure their success? What are their expectations and standards?
- The solution: How does your product or service help your customer solve their problem and achieve their outcome? How does it differ from other alternatives? How does it create value for your customer?
By understanding these three elements, you can design a solution that delivers value that solves your customer’s problems.
How do you create a wow solution? Here are some tips:
- Focus on the core problem and the core benefit. Don’t try to do everything for everyone. Instead, identify the most important problem your customers have and the most valuable benefit they want. Then design your solution around that core value proposition.
- Use the jobs-to-be-done framework. Don’t think of your customers as segments or demographics, but as people who have jobs to be done. A job is a goal or outcome that your customer wants to achieve, and it can be functional, emotional, or social. For example, a customer who buys a drill doesn’t want a drill, but a hole in the wall. A customer who buys a coffee doesn’t want a coffee, but a boost of energy or a social interaction. Understand what jobs your customers are trying to get done and how your solution can help them do it better.
- Innovate on the customer experience. Don’t just copy what your competitors are doing or what your customers say they want. Instead, look for ways to surprise and delight your customers with an exceptional customer experience. Think of how you can make your solution faster, easier, cheaper, safer, more convenient, more personalized, more fun, or more meaningful for your customers. Use design thinking and empathy to create solutions that appeal to your customers’ senses, emotions, and values.
- Test and iterate your solution. Don’t assume that you know what your customers want or need. Instead, validate your assumptions and hypotheses by testing your solution with real customers. Use prototypes, MVPs, experiments, and user testing to get feedback and measure results. Learn from your failures and successes and iterate your solution based on data and insights.
Bonus: Effectively Communicate this value to your ideal customer
Your great idea or product will only be able to deliver value if it lands in the hands of the right person, the person you built it for, your ideal customer. Getting a clearer understanding of your customer pain points and creating a solution that wows your customers will help you narrow down who your ideal customer is. Not everyone needs your product, only those with that particular itch that needs to be scratched or pain they need to be relieved from. They are the ones who will value your offer and be willing to pay for it. So target only your ideal customer.
Use this simple formula to communicate your value effectively:
[Your product or service] helps [your ideal customer] [solve their problem] by [delivering your value proposition].
For example:
XYZ helps busy sales managers organize their work and streamline their workflow by providing a smart sales assistant that integrates with their email, calendar, CRM, and other tools.
This formula helps you convey how your solution addresses your customer’s problem and outcome, and how it creates value for them. It also helps you differentiate yourself from your competitors and position yourself as a painkiller product.
Creating a painkiller product is not a one-time event, but a continuous process of understanding your customers’ needs, delivering value that solves their pain points, and building trust and loyalty that lasts. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. A painkiller product can help you attract and retain more customers, increase your revenue and profit, and gain a competitive edge in your market. It can also help you create a positive impact on your customers’ lives and make them happier and more successful.
If you want to turn your product into a painkiller that your customers can’t live without, you need to follow these steps:
- Identify your ideal customer and their daily struggles
- Develop a solution that wows your customers
- Communicate your value proposition effectively
- Test and iterate your solution based on feedback
- Nurture your customer relationships and loyalty
By following these steps, you can create a product that your customers love, use, and recommend. You can also create a loyal fan base that will support you and grow with you. You can turn your product into a habit that your customers crave.