Pain Points: How to Empathize with Customer Problems and Position Your Solution in 2024

As a salesperson, your number one goal is providing value to your customers. But before you can do that, you need to understand their most pressing problems and challenges. That‘s where pain points come in.

Pain points are unmet needs, persistent frustrations, and nagging obstacles standing in the way of your customer‘s success. Identifying pain points allows you to empathize with your customers, build trust, and position your product or service as the ideal solution.

In this guide, we‘ll break down the different types of business pain points and share tips for uncovering them in your sales conversations. By the end, you‘ll be equipped to take a consultative approach and win more deals in 2024 and beyond.

The 6 Main Types of Business Pain Points (With Examples)

While every company is unique, most business pain points fall into one of six main categories:

1. Positioning Pain Points

Positioning pain points relate to how a company differentiates itself in the market and appeals to its target audience. Signs of positioning pain include:
• Lack of brand awareness or a dated brand
• Losing market share to competitors
• Misalignment between offerings and customer needs
• Inability to communicate a clear value proposition
• Struggling to adapt to changing market conditions

Example: "We have an incredible product but our ideal customers don‘t seem to know we exist. Our competitors are dominating the conversation online and at trade shows."

2. Financial Pain Points

Money-related pain points are extremely common, as most companies are seeking to increase revenue and profitability. Financial pain often sounds like:
• Insufficient sales to cover operating costs
• High customer acquisition costs
• Lack of visibility into cash flow and spending
• Shrinking profit margins
• Budgets that are lower than forecasted

Example: "Our revenue is steadily growing but our profitability hasn‘t increased. It feels like we don‘t have a clear handle on our financial health."

3. People Pain Points

People are the heart of any organization, and pain points often arise around talent management and culture. Listen for people pain points like:
• High employee turnover, especially of top talent
• Recruiting and hiring challenges
• Lack of diversity and inclusion
• Toxic culture and low employee morale
• Misalignment between leadership and staff

Example: "We‘ve had a string of salespeople quit recently and it‘s been a major disruption. Morale on the team is low and I‘m worried we‘ll miss our targets."

4. Process Pain Points

Process pain points occur when a company lacks efficient and repeatable procedures. You might hear process pain described as:
• Inconsistent results between team members
• Spending too much time on administrative work
• Frequent delays and missed deadlines
• Quality control issues and costly mistakes
• Reliance on outdated tools and systems

Example: "Onboarding new clients is always a scramble because each account manager seems to follow a different process. Key steps get missed and it takes forever."

5. Productivity Pain Points

Productivity pain rears its head when people and teams are unable to work efficiently. Signs of lagging productivity include:
• Spending too much time in meetings
• Context switching between disparate tools
• Overwhelming email and notification volume
• Lack of alignment around priorities
• Missed milestones and deliverables

Example: "I feel like my team spends half the day just trying to figure out what everyone else is working on. We‘re using 4 different project management tools and I can never find anything."

6. Small Business Pain Points

Small businesses face many of the same challenges as larger companies, but are working with more limited resources. Unique small business pain points often include:
• Founder overwhelm from wearing multiple hats
• Struggling to keep up with a growing customer base
• Limited cash flow and access to credit
• Attracting and affording top talent
• Managing admin like accounting and compliance

Example: "When I started this business, I was able to give each client personalized attention. But as we‘ve grown, I find myself getting bogged down in day-to-day operations. I‘m worried that quality and customer service are starting to slip."

Understanding these categories can give you a solid foundation for recognizing pain points when you hear them. But how do you get customers to open up and be candid about the challenges they face? That‘s where probing questions come in.

How to Identify Business Pain Points in Discovery Calls

The key to uncovering pain is asking prospects about their goals, plans and challenges, and then deeply listening to their responses. Top-performing salespeople get curious and ask open-ended questions to really understand the customer‘s world.

Here are some of my favorite pain-finding questions to use in discovery calls:

• What‘s the biggest challenge your team/company/department is facing right now?
• How is that impacting your business? What‘s it costing you?
• What do you think is causing that issue? How long has it been a problem?
• How are you currently trying to address that? What‘s working and what‘s not working?
• If that problem was solved, what would it mean for you? Your team?
• What kind of solution do you envision?
• What‘s your ideal timeline to solve this?
• Who else is affected by this issue? Whose buy-in do you need?
• How will you evaluate potential solutions? What‘s most important to you?

You want to go at least 3 layers deep to find the root cause driving your prospect‘s pain. For example, if they say their biggest challenge is a lack of qualified leads, follow up by asking what that really means:

• Why do they believe their current leads are unqualified?
• What channels are they using to acquire leads today?
• How are leads being nurtured and followed up with?
• What kind of ideas do they have for improving lead quality?
• How much revenue are they missing out on due to poor leads?

By digging into their answers, you‘ll start to understand whether the real pain is in their positioning, process, or elsewhere.

You also want to understand the stakes and who‘s impacted by the pain. Ask questions to uncover the personal and professional costs of inaction:

• How is this issue affecting your ability to hit goals?
• What happens if this doesn‘t get solved soon?
• Who else on your team is feeling this pain?
• What‘s at risk if you miss the opportunity to address this?

Understanding the full scope of your prospect‘s pain will inform how you position your solution and build urgency.

4 Tips for Addressing Business Pain and Closing the Deal

One you‘ve identified your prospect‘s most pressing pain points, it‘s time to present your product or service as the remedy they‘ve been searching for.

Here are a few tips for framing your solution in a way that resonates:

1. Use your prospect‘s language

When you‘re explaining how you can help, adopt the same words and phrases your prospect used to describe their challenge. This demonstrates you were listening and creates a stronger connection between their pain and your solution.

For example, if your prospect said "We‘re bleeding money with all these customer returns" don‘t just say "We help reduce returns." Say "Our QA process can help stop the bleeding by preventing defects and catching issues before products ship to customers."

2. Focus on ROI and cost of inaction

To get your prospect to take action, you need to build a strong business case. How much is their current problem costing them in lost revenue, wasted budget, and squandered time? What‘s the price of not implementing a solution?

Let‘s say your prospect is paying for 3 expensive tools that each only solve part of their problem. You could say "Based on what you‘ve shared, it sounds like those 3 tools are costing you about $25,000 per year. By switching to our all-in-one solution, you‘d save over $10,000 annually and give your team back 100 hours a year in wasted time toggling between systems. If you don‘t make a change, that‘s $50,000 down the drain over the next 2 years."

3. Align with their priorities and success metrics

If your solution checks every box from a features perspective but doesn‘t address your prospect‘s most important needs, you‘re jeopardizing the deal. Make sure the benefits you highlight align with the priorities they shared during discovery.

For instance, if the key decision-maker emphasized that they‘re evaluated based on improving retention and loyalty, don‘t bury those points in your pitch. Lead with how you can help boost customer satisfaction, reduce churn, and drive repeat purchases. The bells and whistles can come later.

4. Equip your champion

Your main contact may be sold on your solution, but they often need to convince other stakeholders before a contract gets signed. Make their job easier by providing compelling, tailored materials to share internally.

If your champion needs buy-in from their boss, give them a strong ROI case to present that will resonate with their supervisor‘s KPIs. If your champion needs the support of another department who would use your solution, highlight the pain points of that group specifically. Your champion will appreciate you going the extra mile and will be more likely to go to bat on your behalf.

Make Pain Point Discovery Your Secret Weapon

Invest the time to uncover your prospects‘ deepest frustrations and most daunting roadblocks, and you‘ll become irresistible. When you prove that you understand your customer‘s world and are positioned to solve their problems better than anyone else, closing the deal becomes almost effortless.

Make it a habit to ask pain-inducing questions not just of prospects, but of current customers too. The better you understand the pain points your company solves, the more effective every sales conversation will be.

Pain point discovery allows you to transform from product pusher to trusted consultant. You‘ll build stronger relationships by leading with empathy and your prospects will come to see you as an indispensable partner in their success.

Stop pitching and start listening in 2024 – your quota will thank you for it.