What motivates your highest-paying customers to make a purchase? How can you uncover the specific problems they’re trying to solve when they buy your products or services?
In Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got, Jay Abraham explains that customers aren’t simply buying what you sell; they’re seeking solutions to their problems. Understanding these motivations through customer needs analysis helps you create offerings that truly connect with your target audience.
Keep reading to discover two powerful methods for uncovering what your customers really want and need.
Customer Needs Analysis
Once you have a clear idea of who your highest-paying customers are, pinpoint the needs these customers are trying to meet when they buy from you. Abraham explains that, when people buy something, they’re not just purchasing a product or service—they’re seeking a solution to a specific problem they want or need to overcome. Uncovering these problems through customer needs analysis helps you understand how to refine your products and services to create solutions that truly resonate with customers.
(Shortform note: Josh Kaufman (The Personal MBA) suggests that every customer problem relates to one of five basic psychological needs: Customers need to feel good about themselves, to connect with others, to grow and learn, to feel safe, and to avoid effort. Therefore, you can pinpoint the problems your customers are trying to solve by considering which specific psychological needs your product or service fulfills. For example, your skills training app may not only help customers grow and learn, but also make them feel good about themselves by helping them perform better at work.)
Abraham recommends two methods for understanding the problems customers need to solve.
Method #1: Observe How Customers Use Your Products and Services
Abraham’s first method for understanding customer problems is to observe how customers use your products and services to reveal what they’re trying to achieve. For example, say your app usage data shows that executives complete micro-learning modules during their morning commute. This might suggest they have limited free time and need efficient ways to develop new skills.
(Shortform note: Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown (Hacking Growth) suggest you can understand customer goals by using data analysis tools to track everything users do throughout the entire product experience—from initial contact with your marketing to the end of the sales funnel. They also recommend using these tools to understand product usage patterns, including usage frequency and preferred features. This kind of analysis provides concrete insight into customer intent and behavior—for example, tracking the marketing materials customers engage with most might reveal they’re seeking cost-saving solutions.)
Method #2: Gather Direct Feedback
Abraham’s second method for understanding customer problems is to gather direct feedback through surveys and conversations to identify common challenges. For example, if customer interviews reveal that users struggle to apply theoretical knowledge from traditional training but dislike lengthy courses, that may suggest they need efficient ways to practice and reinforce new skills.
(Shortform note: Rob Fitzpatrick (The Mom Test) adds that the best way to gather feedback on what customers need is to have casual conversations with them about their lives. According to him, when directly asked about a product, customers tend to say what they think you want to hear rather than revealing their true needs. However, when talking about their daily experiences, they tend to give honest insights into the problems they’re trying to solve. For example, asking about your customers’ learning habits will encourage them to reveal more about their needs than asking for their opinion on your training app.)
