In a previous entry, I discussed that it’s important to sell what your customers want to buy in a way that they want to buy it. See that entry here.

It’s one thing to understand that you need to sell what your customers want, but how do you find out what they want. Most people want to solve their biggest problems or challenges. They usually have a problem and seek to find the answer. You need to sell them their answers.

Here are three ways that you can find out what your customers want to purchase and what their problems might be:

  1. Ask them. If you already have a steady stream of customers or, better yet, an email list of potential and previous customers, then all you need to do is ask them. Ask them in simple terms to explain what their biggest problem is. Align your services to match their answers. 
  2. Conduct a survey. At surverymonkey.com, you can put together a short, simple survey free of charge. Keep your survey to a minimum of questions. The shorter the survey, the more apt people are to fill it out. Offer a free give-away to anyone who fills out the survey as an incentive. Ask your friends and acquaintances to fill out the survey. Ask them to ask their friends. If you have a good idea, then people will want to pass around your request. You could also setup a Google Adwords campaign to generate more traffic to fill out your survey. I find that asking friends, acquaintances and people you already know work better than the Google Adwords, but the Adwords will help you to increase your numbers.
  3. Research your market. Go where your target market is hanging out. Find out what problems they are already asking other people to solve. Through your conversations online or offline, take notes on what questions people are asking. Ask questions that you think they have and see how people answer them. Join in discussion groups online. People ask a thousand questions on these. Find out what the popular problems are and provide solutions for those.

Remember that selling what customer is looking for tends to be the best way to get their attention. It is so much hard to sell your idea of what they need than it is to sell a solution to a problem they know they already have.