Everything Changed. The Key to Success Hasn’t

Everything has changed in the past four months. How we work. How we play. How we spend our money. Whether we even have money. One thing that hasn’t changed? The key to any success is your ability to solve someone’s problem. Sure, a lot of the problems people are facing may have changed but your ability to solve them is still what is going to put you, your product, your service, your idea, on someone’s list of must haves.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a marketer like me, a company that manufactures a product, a school system or a politician. The key to success is the same as it always has been – what problem do you solve and do you do it better than the available alternatives? I talked about how some companies have figured out how to pivot to new solutions in a post a few months ago about what innovations might stick around after the current crisis is over.

New Problems Need New Solutions

The global pandemic has given rise to a whole host of new problems. What new problems does your community or customers have that you can solve? Spend some time thinking about this. Maybe do a little research. Dig deeper than merely asking them what they want. As Henry Ford said, if I asked people what they wanted, it would have been a faster horse. The problem was how to get places quicker, the solution was a car.

Starting with the problem is an approach that has always worked for me. When a client or account service person comes with me with changes – whether it’s to a strategy or to the actual creative, the natural tendency is to try and tell me what they want to change it to, even if they’re not sure what exactly it is they need it to be. I always tell them, “don’t try and fix it, just tell me what the problem is.” Once you have a clear picture of what the problem is, there is a much better chance for a good solution.

I have worked with a number of school districts.They supply a good example of how new problems need new solutions. If you were a school of choice trying to attract new students a year ago, you might have touted a better athletics program, a better academics record or better teachers and facilities. Because those were the answers to the problems motivating families to change. Those issues might still be factors in making a choice, but they may not be the most pressing anymore. Today, the solutions that drive a family to change school districts are more likely to be a safer and cleaner environment or laptops for everyone, better technology and a better plan for remote learning.

Always Be Listening

The fact that many of our ways of doing things is changing right now is a good reminder that we should always be listening to those we serve. If you really listen to them, you will find they have other problems that need solutions. And if you can find a way to solve those problems, you can not only deepen your relationship with them, you can open up opportunities to expand your business.

A perfect example of this is a manufacturing company I’ve worked with. They have quarterly classes to make sure the people who install their products know how to install them properly. These installers work for the manufacturer’s clients. During these sessions, they discovered that one problem installers had was that the products they were installing had to be combined with products from another manufacturer and the process of combining the two products usually came with extra hassle and cost. Plus, my client’s products were built to meet high federal government standards, which wasn’t always the case with the other parts.

After listening to the problems, the manufacturer had it’s engineers and designers work for a year to give the installers a solution to their problem. They were able to build their own version of the complete system so there would be no buying and installing parts from somewhere else – and the whole unit was certified to be up to code. By listening and providing a solution to their client’s problem, the manufacturer is seeing a lot of positive results and has a whole new product line to add to their bottom line.

Solving problems. It has always been the thing that makes a person or company invaluable to someone. What problems can you solve today that will help your business tomorrow?

Mike McClure, always ready to listen

If you’d like to follow my blog, please subscribe

Name*

Email*