The secret to providing the right answers -
Always begins with knowing the right questions -
Solving real problems - and helping your customers,
-feel like geniuses for choosing you.
Lets Dive In !
To mastering this key topic:
...
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
Which of Your Services Matches Presenting Needs?
When customers approach you, they often have a problem in mind but may not fully understand which of your offerings is best suited to solve it.
But they will always know the outcomes they desire...
Don your Detective Hat - because it's your mission to know this intimately - in order to present a solution that best fits their needs.
Lets take a look at the various stages that you need to master in order to be able to do so...
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
Business Growth And Personal Branding:
Throughout this content piece let's take the example of a client who is looking to develop their own business or personal brand.
Its a poignant example that over the years, I have developed a structure in my exploration of, before offering potential solutions.
It's equally applicable to working with corporate clients as it is to the aspiring solopreneur.
Ill share some of the key elements of this with you;
But first a little context...
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
"How Do I Know What My Customer Really Needs?"
Most prospects don’t come to you with a fully-formed understanding of what they need; they come with symptoms, not the diagnosis.
Imagine you’re a doctor, and they’re your patient;
You need to fully understand their 'symptoms' before prescribing the solution...
In a business sense, people often lead with their problems -
'Im struggling to get clients'
Is really a statement around them wanting to know:
HOW they can attract new clients, faster, more efficiently or more effectively.
So you need to understand the specific challenges they are facing - as well as you know the back of your own hand:
And the emotion behind the 'problem' is the element of Mindset that you also need to address -
Every bit as much as the actionable, practical steps:
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
Get Them Open - And Forgo The Closed Questions:
The best way to identify their actual needs is to ask smart, open-ended questions that get to the root of their problem. Questions like:
- What is the main challenge that you are facing in your business right now?
-What have you already tried?
-How do you measure success?
-What would the perfect outcome of us working together look like for you?
These questions turn you into a solutions detective, guiding the customer to reveal the pain points that your product or service can relieve.
These are just the tip of the Iceberg of course, but can you see the difference already - that knowing the answers can already begin to provide...
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
Explore, Explore and Then Find Out More...
Honestly, the more thoroughly that you invest time in finding out your prospects needs, hopes, fears, experiences and desired outcomes -
The more easy it becomes to tailor a bespoke solution - which draws on your existing skills - and creates a true win-win business opportunity:
Then, after you have done so - you are presenting to their actual needs - not what you simply are assuming they are...
But even more importantly, the answers to the above enable you to begin to present a framework of agreed actions and outcomes from both yours and the prospects perspective...
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
How It Helps:
By diagnosing their real issue, you’re positioning yourself as the expert, not just a salesperson.
As well as being 'on their side.'
Once the prospect feels that you 'get them' -
Then more often than not - once your presentation is geared to their exact requirements -
With clearly defined agreed, actions, milestones and most likely outcomes - you have 'got them.'
But its a process that needs to be handled sensitively, diplomatically and effectively:
-Positioning yourself as somebody on their side, dedicated to the specific outcomes that are most important to them.
Many times I have seen new or aspiring consultants assume that they know best - where the reality is that (even if you do) the client cares only about what is most important to them.
It is your job to build a bridge between the two...
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
Two Ears and One Mouth:
The main lesson I learned:
You don’t sell people anything; until you know exactly what it is that they need.
You help them solve a problem.
And the degree to which you convince or explain to your prospect that you are the person to do so -
-Is correlated to the trust you establish in which you can fulfill and over-deliver these expectations:
When customers feel understood, they’re more likely to trust you and value your recommendations.
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
How To Do It:
Craft a list of discovery questions tailored to each customer interaction...
These should be broad enough to allow customers to open up but focused enough to reveal actionable insights.
Active listening is key here, you’re not just waiting for your turn to speak; you’re digging for gold.
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
"Matching the Right Product to the Right Customer?"
Once you've dug into the customer's core needs, it’s time to match them with the right product or service.
But the trick is, you’re not just offering a product; you’re offering a solution that directly addresses their pain point.
Think of your product line as a toolbox, and their problem as a screw that needs tightening.
You wouldn’t use a hammer when they need a screwdriver.
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
So how do you make the right match?
Break down your offerings into problem-solvers:
-Which one helps with scalability?
-Which one fixes inefficiency?
-Which one drives revenue?
Frame your recommendations in their terms.
Lead with the benefits:
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
How It Helps:
When you present the right solution, you’re no longer “selling” in the traditional sense.
You become a partner in their success.
By matching the right product or service, you’re not just filling a need, you’re solving a problem, making you indispensable.
It is your role to expand and expound on exactly how you will do this - and why you are the obvious choice.
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
How To Do It:
Develop a document or a checklist that links common customer problems to specific products or services you offer.
Then, customize your pitch to explain how that particular product will meet the customer's unique needs.
It’s about being both adaptable and precise.
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
"How Do I Frame This in a Way That the Customer Feels Confident About Their Purchase?"
Customers want to feel like they’re making the right decision, and it’s your job to give them the confidence they need.
This means framing the solution in a way that speaks to their emotions as well as their logic.
Remember: buyers don’t just want the best product, they want to feel smart for choosing it.
I spoke in yesterdays thread about how the experience is just as important as the outcome.
One of the ways to boost a customers trust level is to highlight your previous successes working with others who have faced (and surmounted) similar problems or challenges...
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
Highlight Prior Success Stories:
“One of our clients faced the same issue, and after implementing this, they saw a 30% increase in productivity.”
Share data and ROI projections:
“By using this product, you could potentially save (whatever amount) of Pounds over the next year.”
Alleviate fears by addressing common concerns:
“I know you’re worried about the upfront cost, but here’s how the long-term savings pay off.”
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
How It Helps:
Building confidence reduces buyer’s remorse.
And the more you can back this up with stats and already proven strategies, the easier it will be to eliminate, pre-empt or bypass objections:
If a customer feels reassured by both your data and your anecdotes and your testimonials -
-they’ll walk away not only with the product or service, but also with the assurance that they’ve made a wise investment.
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
How To Do It:
Prepare case studies, testimonials, and ROI metrics before your sales conversation.
Sprinkle them into the dialogue to support your recommendations.
Be transparent about challenges, but always position your product as the ultimate problem-solver.
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
Conclusion: Making the Perfect Match
Matching your products or services to a customer’s presenting needs isn’t just about selling.
It’s about diagnosing the problem, offering the right solution, and making the customer feel like a genius for choosing you.
By asking the right questions, aligning your product with their pain points, and building their confidence,
-You’ll create a win-win scenario that ensures both parties walk away satisfied, and almost certainly smiling.
And remember, when in doubt, think like a detective.
The better you can solve the case of the customers missing solutions - the better the outcome of every interaction.
'Seek first to understand - before being understood.'
That is the message - and one that will serve you well in everything that you do.
Yours, 💘
Michael Masters - The Info Architect
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow Mike Masters on 𝕏 for Daily Short and Long-Form Content:
Michael Masters (@Info_Architect)
Helping you Master the Elements of Mindset, Coaching, Content Creation, Writing and Personal Branding.
By Bulletproofing Brains, Businesses and Bank Balances.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------