Where’s the Pain?

How understanding your customers’ problems is the key to business success

In the last article, I explained that business is fundamentally simple, and that it starts with learning a little about your own strengths and weaknesses, using the free ‘Magnet/Maker/Monitor’ test.

Now it is time to put your business idea into a very simple format: the Elevator Pitch, which we describe on the front cover of our book The Beermat Entrepreneur.

Imagine you are in an elevator and someone important steps in just before the doors close. They could be a potential customer, and you want them to know what you do before they get out at their floor. There is no time for a detailed pitch. You have around fifteen seconds, maximum.

It is also your answer to the question everyone gets asked at a party or networking event: “So what do you do?”

When I ask entrepreneurs for their Elevator Pitch, some seem to assume the elevator has got stuck for a couple of hours. Partly it is enthusiasm, and partly a worry that they won’t be taken seriously without a long list of features. We have all been cornered by someone who talks too much about themselves, and we have all looked for an excuse to escape.

My co-author Chris West and I spent a long time working out how to make a pitch simple. Our conclusion was that a good Elevator Pitch has three elements: Pain, Premise and Proof.

Pain

When you are shaping a new business idea, keep asking yourself the magic question: ‘Where’s the Pain?’ If you can solve someone’s problem, you have the basis for a successful business.

People talk about their problems all the time, socially and at work. Some are beyond any of us, such as potholes, the price of diesel or the queues at airport security. But you will often hear how hard it is to find someone reliable for everyday local services, such as home tutoring, gardening or cleaning.

Start with empathy. Agree that it is a real challenge, and if you know someone good, recommend them.

Premise

But if it is a problem you can solve, say so: “That’s the problem I solve!” Then stop, and watch their body language.

Nobody likes being sold to, least of all by someone they have just met, so expect some scepticism. I met plenty of it in my early sales career, selling our computer training courses. Training managers knew perfectly well that anyone can learn a subject on their own. Our Premise was that we replaced six months of self-study with a one-week workshop led by an expert. The cost benefits spoke for themselves.

Proof

In sales, you deal with scepticism by quickly offering proof, ideally a case study: someone who was just as sceptical at first, and is now happy to tell people what they gained.

Putting it together

Don’t leap straight into your Premise (“I provide home tutoring in mathematics”). Start with the Pain (“Lots of children struggle to get good grades in maths”). That opens a conversation, and often an opportunity, for their own children or for someone they know.

Then back it up with Proof: “I taught maths for 20 years before I retired”, or, if you are younger, “My maths grades got me into a great university.”

The way to get comfortable with anything difficult is practice. You will soon find yourself telling short, engaging stories about people you have helped: the problem, how you solved it, and what happened as a result, such as better grades, a university place or a first job.

In future articles I will share straightforward sales advice for people who find selling difficult or unpleasant. For now, work on your own Pain, Premise and Proof.

The best place to practise is a local networking event, where everyone is there to tell these stories. To help you get ready, I offer free entrepreneurship advice once a month at my local pub, The Old White Bear in New End, Hampstead. You will find the next date on the Events page.

I look forward to meeting you and helping you turn your good idea into a great business, starting with a fifteen-second Elevator Pitch: Pain, Premise and Proof.