6 Secrets to Uncovering Customer Pain Points

Customer pain points can hold a business back from repeat sales and new clients. It’s important that you uncover what those pain points are so that they can be acted upon and improvements can be made. But what are customer pain points and how can they be identified as quickly and as efficiently as possible?

What are customer pain points?

Customer pain points refers to any problems that your customers or client base are experiencing with your business. It’s in the best interest of the business owner to identify these customer pain points and act on them accordingly, being sure to rectify any issues their clients have.

By sorting these problems out, not only will you help to retain a healthy and loyal customer base, but it will also help to bring in new custom at the recommendations of your existing clients. If issues with products and/or services are resolved, then it shows you’re being proactive and listening to their suggestions as and when you receive them. 

A pain point could be that a customer is complaining that the knives you sell don’t stay sharp for long enough or maybe the design on a mug you sell has washed off within just a few uses. No matter what it is, you should look to make your products and services better for your customers.

What are the different types of customer pain points?

There are, usually, four different types of customer pain points, depending on what it is the client has a problem with. The four main customer pain points include the following:

Financial pain points – your customer feels as though they’re spending way too much money on alternatives to what you sell or by going to a competitor for the same thing. You need to make sure that they can get what they need for less money. They’ll be far more inclined to shop with you in that instance than a competitor who is selling the same thing with a larger price tag.

Process pain points – these include bumps along the road when it comes to the shopping process, from choosing a product or service right up to completion or purchase. One of those bumps in the road could be long wait times, inefficient delivery methods or a customer receiving wrong or damaged products. You want to ensure your customers do not have a bad experience with you but, if it does happen, you must do your best to apologise and rectify the situation accordingly so as to retain your customer base.

Support pain points – when there’s an issue with customer support, it can restrict businesses from rectifying issues as quickly and as efficiently as possible for their customers. Customer service is essential when it comes to the running and ownership of any company and so working to improve customer service will do a world of good when it comes to retaining a loyal customer base and drawing in some new clients.

Productivity pain points – your customers will expect a resolution from you as quickly as possible if a problem arises. They expect the service you’re providing to be streamlined and seamless every single time, so when it isn’t, you can expect a customer pain point to come up. If this process is elongated to such a degree, then this could exacerbate things further, causing business productivity into question. 

6 ways of uncovering customer pain points

Uncovering customer pain points is something that needs to be done to, as already discussed, improve customer services and productivity throughout your business. It is also advised that you train your staff, especially those in a customer-facing role, to identify these pain points and how to act on them appropriately. So how can you identify customer pain points?

Read the reviews your customers leave

Customer reviews can be extremely honest and business owners should use this to their advantage. Many company owners and managers will use them as a way to identify staff members who go above and beyond in their roles, for example, so they can be rewarded. But most of the time, customers will leave reviews commenting on the products they’ve purchased and the services they’ve received.

You should use this to uncover any issues your customers have, especially if they’re all saying the same thing. It could even be something as simple as a mug you sell where the handle simply drops off when using it, but all of your other mugs are fine. You should then recall those products and take steps to put it right before putting it back on the shelves or making it available into your website again.

It might even be that a customer has left a review about a service you offer, leaving constructive feedback in order to improve it in the future. You should look at this more as an opportunity to grow and develop your services as opposed to a negative review. Customer reviews act as a window into the mindset of the consumer and they should be viewed as a valuable asset.

Carry out surveys

Another way to uncover your customer pain points is to devise a survey and encourage your customers to fill them out as honestly as possible. This is a quick and easy way to gather feedback about your products and services, but it also gives you the opportunity to ask your customers about specific things or aspects of your goods and/or services.

Not only will a survey give you and your team qualitative data, but it will also provide you with quantitative data – the best of both worlds. When producing a survey that will provide you with the best results, then some of the questions you could ask include:

• How can we improve our products or services?
• How can we improve our customers’ sales journey?
• Is there anything stopping you from using our products or services? If so, what?
• Why do you choose to use our services or shop our products?

Communicate with your sales team

Your sales team is a helpful, relevant resource that should be used to your advantage. There’s a reason as to why you have a sales team and, as part of their role, they should supply you with information about what’s selling and what isn’t. Can they provide you with a reason for that? If not, then you should look to carry out a survey. As previously touched upon.

You should also ask your sales team to keep notes and write down observations if a sales pitch didn’t end with success. The insights gathered here, together with survey responses, should help you to decide which direction your products and/or services should go in. Your analysis should include getting answers to questions like:

• What were the prospects’ pain points?
• What did the prospect like and/or dislike about our products and/or services?
• Why was our product and/or service turned down by the prospect?
• How could we have perhaps convinced the prospect to take on our product and/or service?
• Did the prospect compare our product and/or service to that of our competitors? If yes, what did they compare it to?

Conduct essential market research

Market research is a great way of finding out what your competitors are doing when it comes to the products and/or services they sell and how they’re targeting their customers to ensure sales keep coming. It might also uncover customer pain points that weren’t identified through other means. Carrying out data research on your target market is, however, much easier said than done. This is why it’s important to have tools available that’ll make the process as easy as possible.

Ask all the right questions

This can also be part of carrying out consumer surveys. Your priority is to find out what the major pain points are when it comes to your customers. If you’re already sending out surveys and encouraging people to fill them out and are waiting for responses or insights, then you might ask yourself questions like: “why aren’t my customers responding to my surveys?” and “is there a way in which we can make our surveys better?”.

The reason why they might not be deciding to respond to you is because of the way in which you’ve been asking the questions. It might not even be the way you’re asking them, it could also be what you’re asking them. Make sure you ask open-ended questions because this gives your customers the opportunity to elaborate on their answers. Some of the right questions you could ask your customer include. But is not limited to, the following:

• Was there a problem or issue you were trying to solve when you decided to purchase our product or commit to our services?
• How have you benefited from receiving our products or using our services? Give three advantages
• Is there a way in which we can improve our products and/or services in a way that’ll better meet your needs?
• What would you use as an alternative to our products and/or services?
• Which company would you use to purchase our products or use our services, besides ourselves?
• What’s stopping you from shopping with another business or purchasing the same products and/or services from elsewhere?

Keep an eye on your competitors

If you find that your competitors are receiving just as much custom or, if not, more, then you should take steps to learn more about them, the products they’re selling, the services they’re offering and how they’re advertising and getting exposure. If you can identify these things, then you’ll be able to implement a plan that’s just as good (or better) as the marketing methods used by your competitors. As such, you’ll soon reap the rewards by way of increased leads and sales.

Kumo Digital is a committed digital marketing agency with over two decades of industry knowledge and expertise behind us. We’re able to provide you with SEO and PPC services as well as website design and development services and professional content writing that’ll propel your business into the spotlight. For more information about how we can help you today, get in touch with a member of our specialist team – we’re always happy to hear from you.