- We call on customers who don’t have the problems we solve, pitching our products and wondering why they aren’t interested.
- We call on customers who have problems, but they aren’t the problems we solve—or there are others that have far superior solutions.
- We call on customers who have the problems we solve, but they don’t know they have the problem or they haven’t prioritized it. (Some of the jargon is these are “latent problems.”)
We struggle to find customers who want to consider buying our products and services. We keep calling until a customer says, “Yes, I have that problem.” But by that time, they may be well along in their buying cycle. Our ability to work with them in defining the problem, shaping the solution, and influencing their purchase decision is very limited.