Beyond the Obvious
- Herman Veitch
- Aug 19
- 3 min read
Understanding Target Customer Needs and Wants for Scalable Success
Welcome to Empathy Central, for every discerning entrepreneur in their 40s and 50s looking to transform business growth challenges into scalable success and a lasting legacy! Think about your favourite brands. Why do you keep going back? It's often more than just a good product or service, isn't it? Building a truly successful, profitable business, especially for SMEs, isn't just about what you sell, but who you're selling to and, more importantly, why they buy. This week, we're diving deep into the imperative of truly understanding your target customer – not just their basic needs, but their deeper wants and motivations – a critical step in developing customer emotional profiles for marketing and effectively applying the customer jobs pains gains for SMEs framework.
The Two Sides of Your Customer: Physical vs. Emotional
Many businesses stop at the surface, focusing only on the "physical profile" of their customers – what they need in a functional sense. But here's the crucial insight, especially for men navigating the complexities of business in their 40s and 50s: most customers buy what they want (their emotional profile), not just what they need (their physical profile).
Physical Profile (The "Need"): This covers the practical, tangible requirements. For instance, a business owner needs a robust system to manage employees more efficiently to overcome current growth challenges.
Emotional Profile (The "Want"): This taps into desires, aspirations, and frustrations. That same business owner, driven by the desire for scalable success and a lasting legacy, wants to feel less overwhelmed, more in control, and achieve greater freedom. They want the peace of mind that comes with streamlined operations and the confidence to scale without chaos. As Maya Angelou wisely said, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Understanding these emotional drivers is paramount for developing customer emotional profiles for marketing that truly resonates.
Jobs, Pains, & Gains: A Deeper Dive for SMEs
To genuinely understand your customer's motivations and successfully apply the customer jobs, pains, and gains for SMEs framework, use this powerful structure:
Customer Jobs: What "job" is your customer trying to get done? What are they trying to accomplish, solve, or achieve? For a business leader in his 40s or 50s, this might be "Scale my business without chaos and ensure it can operate efficiently even when I'm not directly involved."
Customer Pains: What frustrates them before, during, and after trying to get that job done? What risks do they fear? Examples include "feeling overwhelmed by daily operations, resisting new systems due to past failures, fearing generic advice that doesn't apply to my unique business, and the risk of not building a strong enough foundation for a lasting legacy."
Customer Gains: What benefits do they seek or dream of? What would make their life easier, happier, or more successful? They might seek "measurable improvements in efficiency, expert guidance from a human-centric systems coaching approach, and a supportive brotherhood of purpose to navigate growth challenges, leading to truly scalable success and the ability to leave a significant legacy."
By mapping these out, especially within the context of SMEs, you can tailor your solutions to resonate deeply, addressing their genuine struggles and delivering the precise outcomes they desire. This is key to strategic decision-making and sustainable growth, propelling you towards scalable success and the lasting legacy you envision.
Ready to Connect Deeper with Your Customers?
Stop guessing what your customers want. By understanding their emotional drivers, their jobs, their pains, and their gains, you can build a business that not only meets needs but genuinely delights. This approach fosters unwavering loyalty and drives remarkable growth for men in their 40s and 50s.
Curious how human-centric systems coaching can transform your business growth challenges? Download our free decision-making tool today! It's your first step, a powerful "taster" that will help you pinpoint your current challenges and show you exactly how our comprehensive online course on building systems and processes can propel your business beyond the 5-year mark, ensuring scalable success and a lasting legacy.
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