The Simplest Strategy Question

I’m always a fan of keeping things simple. And when it comes to creating a strategy to win over and retain customers, in a very profitable business model, here’s the simplest, most-overlooked question:

What is the problem you solve for your clients?

Within this seemingly innocent question are two more:

          1. Who really is your core client?
          2. Why are they thrilled to do business with you?

Doing this work means you’ve taken the time to think about all the different customers and segments of your work and therefore get to your core focus – and you understand your customer’s ever-evolving problems and know your solutions are relevant.

And if your customers are willing to pay you handsomely, it means you are either providing a unique solution or you’re providing a solution in a unique way.

Try it right now:

    • My core client is ______________________________________.
    • The main problem we solve is ______________________________________.
    • They are thrilled to do business with us because_______________________________.

Being clear is a spectacular start for many companies. And we can easily get lost, along the way, as we take on more and more opportunities that show up.

The real magic starts when you do an analysis of profitability, and other measures of effectiveness, of the different solutions that you provide for the different types of customers.

As you scrape through the data, you’ll test and validate your opinion of the problem you think you effectively solve for which customers are willing to pay you handsomely – and where the truth and opportunities lie.

The Challenge

  • Can you and your team answer these three questions?
  • Is your sales team aligned around the answers?
  • Can your data team provide the information to back up the fact that you do get paid handsomely, in terms of profit, by these customers.

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