The final objective of any business is customer satisfaction. At the end of the day, all businesses are working to provide value to customers in exchange for profit. Therefore, for any company or brand to exist, it must-have solutions to customers’ problems. That company must be able to identify customer pain points. However big or small, identifying problems is important. These small points give companies a big edge against their competitors.

For instance, a company like Apple. Today, Apple is among the most valuable companies. However, its customer experience is what makes it stand out. Apple gained an edge over its competitors by trying to solve customer pain points. Be it the launch of the iPod or iPhone. People enjoy having smooth connectivity between all their devices. The apple ecosystem brings that to the table. Apple keeps updating its software with constant changes. These small things have given Apple that edge over its competition. Therefore, Apple has massive customer loyalty. An Apple user will not agree to change his smartphone’s brand that easily.

What Are Customer Pain Points? 

Customer Pain Points seems like a difficult term. However, it is plain and simple when easily put. A customer Pain point is a specific problem that any customer might face. Not everything can be perfect. There are going to be problems in any customer journey. However, it is upon how the company solves it and then markets it to their customer.

Customer Pain points are different just like the customer. You will have several customers with different problems. However, This is what makes their identification difficult. Every customer is different from the other so it is difficult to narrow down problems. In addition, some customers don’t even realise the reason they are facing problems. All this makes it even more difficult for a brand to analyse and make changes. 

However, identifying such pain points is important for salespersons and marketers. Salespersons can use them to make a better pitch as they sell their products. On the other hand, marketers can use them to market their products better. For instance, we often see ads based on new product features that help solve problems. This could be a smart way of taking a screenshot of maybe answering a call. 

Some paints market themselves on the basis of sustainability and smell. This is actually playing on customer pain points as well. Customers most often don’t like the strong smell of paints. However, paint which solves a problem like this will definitely create waves. Similarly, a lot of people today are becoming environmentally conscious. This has made brands turn to plastic-free packaging in order to market and sell better.

Therefore, one can recognise plenty of customer pain points. Doing so early will set you apart from your competition. Also, these problems do have a lot of effect on a company’s marketing and sales plans.

How to Identify Customer Pain Points 

We all know how important identifying these points are. However, how can we identify them is the more important question. Therefore, here are a few ways you can identify your customer pain points:

• Conduct market research: Asking open-ended questions or doing qualitative market research is a good idea. This helps you know your customer better. You will be able to make your buyer personas. Along with all this information, you will be able to align your customers’ needs with your work.

• Use social media: If your brand has good and active social media, you must make use of it. Most people find these platforms convenient to share problems. Therefore, have a team that looks into their problems. People might send direct messages or even post comments. Identify and  Analyse common problems.

• Use live chat option: Nowadays, plenty of websites have a live chat option. This helps in knowing your customers’ issues quicker. This not only helps know problems but also helps provide quick solutions.

• Connect with your sales and customer service teams: These are the teams who know the customers closely. They are the ones who will know about problems way better. Therefore, keep in regular touch with them, and identify customer pain points. Customer service teams often ask you to tell them about any issues being faced by you. 

• Intent signals: plenty of times when customers face issues with their products, they take to google. For instance, your phone is continuously switching off. You immediately go to google and look for ways to fix this. You will find lots of forums online discussing such problems being faced by a lot of others. Therefore, track these using intent signals. Trying to reach your customers out. If not, try finding bugs in your product and fixing them.

Pros and Cons

Here are a few advantages and disadvantages of identifying customer pain points.

Advantages:

• Customer loyalty: When a company is quick at resolving all problems of a customer, it really builds its value. This also helps create loyal customers.
• Customer experience: Identifying and solving problems improves the entire buying process of any customer.

Disadvantages: 

Identifying Customer pain points doesn’t have any disadvantages as such. In fact, every business must practice it. However, it can be a costly and time-taking process.

The Best Strategies to Fix It 

Only finding out the problem is never enough, you must find ways to fix it too. This is how your company can increase its brand value. Therefore, here are some ways you can try fixing your customers’ problems:

• Using their language: It is important to help your customers in a way they can understand. However, This does not just mean in the language they are comfortable in. It is also about making things simple for them. You cannot explain a normal person using tech jargon. You will have to make things simpler for them. Therefore, use easy as well as user-friendly language.

• Personalise your pitch: Everyone likes feeling special and so will your customer. While providing your solution, try making it sound personalised. Make them know that they are being heard and you understand their problem. All this will make them like your customer service despite the problems faced by them. A lot of people stick with the brand because of good customer service too.

• Show proof: Try to give them proof or testimonies about how others have benefited from the same. This helps them trust your solution even more. 

• Be transparent: If there have been issues within the company, come clear with your customers. Providing clarity and being honest is a very underrated aspect. Customers like brands which are transparent.

• Address common problems: Identify problems that a lot of people are sharing. This makes it easier to solve a lot of problems at once. 

• Good and active customer service: This is the responsibility of any good company. A company must have active customer service. This forms a big part of any customer’s experience with a company. If this is bad or slow, people will hate your brand despite its good quality.

Top 4 Customer Pain Points Examples 

So, a lot of companies tend to face some common problems in different stages of their business. Therefore, here are some customer pain points that are faced by companies:

• Delay in customer service: A lot of customers face this issue. Customers sometimes end up waiting on a call for several minutes before getting an answer. Sometimes, email queries take too long to be addressed or are never replied to. This can annoy any customer. Therefore, a quick customer support team is important for any company.

• Unavailable support: It is easy to promise 24*7 customer support. However, it is equally hard to deliver. It is necessary to stick to what you promise. If you don’t have the resources for a long time, support. Ensure providing customers with timings. Have customer support forums online.

• Rude customer service: This is a big turn-off for any customer. No one likes an ignorant or rude customer support staff. One must ensure having a patient team aboard. Apart from being rude, the support team must have complete knowledge too. You don’t want your team to be caught unaware. This reflects poorly on the company. Therefore, ensure good staff training and experience.

• Difficult process and navigation: Everyone likes it easy. No one likes to go through a long process just to buy a product. This can easily make them change brands. Therefore, try giving an easy user experience. You want your customer to complete their buying process without any difficulty or pain.

• Products and services: Finally, the products and services you offer matter the most. Sometimes customers ignore the bad experience just because your product is solid. However, a bad product and service can make or break the deal. You don’t want your customer to receive damaged or wrong products. 

In Conclusion

All in all, identifying customer pain points as well as working on them is helpful to any company. Today, there is so much competition around. Every company in your field might be selling a product similar to yours. Be it in terms of looks or quality. However, you both cannot be providing exactly the same type of customer experience. Therefore, make the best use of this. 

Your customer service and experience should be so strong that customers stick with you no matter what. This is one of the best ways to create customer loyalty. Loyal customers not only are your repeat buyers but also your marketers. They provide the best word-of-mouth marketing.

What are your thoughts about customer pain points? Do you think customer service is important? Let us know in the comments section below.