Get More Customers Through Your Website By Switching Perspectives

TL:DR - Thinking from your point of view rather than the perspective your customers could be losing you customers. Rather than focusing on features, shift your mindset to figure out the pains and problems that your product solves.

Many digital products focus their marketing and messaging to heavily on features. Focusing on the how and not the why can make you forget that people aren't paying for a product, they are paying for a solution to their problem.

So here's the problem: Talking about the list of features your product has isn’t what’s going to convince people to buy. If you're getting carried away talking about the nuts and bolts of what you offer your customer, you're forgetting to think from your customer's point of view and what problem they are having.

Rather than thinking "this is what our product does", it's better to focus on the outcomes for your customer and say "this is the pain that our product can solve".

This change in perspective means that you're thinking about what your customer is struggling with, what's important to them, and what they need to know before they sign-up or start paying for your product.

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What is your customer's problem?

To fully understand what their true problem is, you have to ask a lot of questions. If you have no stakeholders to talk to, imagine what it is like to be in the customer’s shoes as best you can.

Here are some things to think about:

• What worries your customer?
• What frustrates them?
• What keeps them up at night?
• Have they tried to solve this problem themselves? If so, why has it not worked?

By asking these questions, you can get a better understanding of what problem they are looking to solve, and how to show them you can solve it. It's much easier to sell your customer something if you can show them what their situation will look like after their problem is solved.

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What is important to your customer?

Dentist appointments always seem to be too damn expensive. If I told you of a place where you could get a checkup that is as cheap as $20, but is a 2-hour drive from you and does a sloppy job, would you go? Of course not.

The price tag on your services is not the only important thing to your customer. There are many things that your customers care about, and if you want to prove that your service is worth the price, you have to tick all the other boxes that your customer cares about. I'd be happy to pay $100 for toothpaste if it actually whitened my teeth in two weeks.

Here are some examples of what could be important to your customer:

• That you or your product is trustworthy.
• That they are getting the best value for their money.
• That you are based locally.
• That you will be available if something goes wrong.

Thinking about what's important to your customer also includes talking like them.

If your customers are of high profile, you don't want to use any slang that makes you look unprofessional. If they are small businesses, you don't want to use industry jargon that they won't understand. Show that you understand them and their needs by writing copy that speaks to them.

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What do they need to know before they sign-up?

You want to be able to answer every burning question your customer might have when they get to your website. Unanswered questions leave customers confused and frustrated.

Your customers might be thinking:

• How much does this service actually cost?
• Is this business open right now?
• Is this done by a team or a sole trader?
• How do I know this service will solve my problem?

What about the questions you don't want to – or can't – answer straight away? For example, let's say you don't want to put pricing on your website as you're afraid it will scare customers away. Rather than leave it out completely, find a different way to answer the question.

A good solution in this example could be a pricing section that says "our pricing is flexible and varies case by case. Feel free to give us a call or email us and we can figure out the right price package that suits your business". This way you can guide them through why the price is what it is.

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The takeaway

Every customer is coming to your website with a problem that they need solving, potentially through your product. When they get to your website, you want to make sure that you have the best chance of selling to them. The best way you can do this is by understanding their problem and what is important to them, explaining how you can fix the problem, and showing them what their situation would look like once it’s solved.

Think like your customer. Talk like your customer. Solve for your customer.