The journey from interested prospect to loyal customer involves a number of steps, each one requiring careful attention to the customer’s needs. Along the way, business owners need to convince prospects that their product or service resolves various pain points.
But what are customer pain points, and what’s the best way to address them? Whether you own a med spa, roofing or towing company, restaurant, law firm, or any other kind of small business focused on local customers, mastering the art of addressing pain points in the customer journey can help you earn loyal business and ensure long-term growth.
This article breaks down how to identify customer pain points in four key categories, as well as how Townsquare Interactive’s services and technology can help you eliminate friction in the customer journey.
What Are Customer Pain Points?
Pain points refer to the various frustrations that customers and prospects may have in relation to a particular need. When improperly handled by a business, these pain points can turn into negative customer experiences that impact whether someone completes a purchase or turns to a competitor.
The most common customer pain points relate to process, financial issues, support, or product. A breakdown in the customer experience (CX) within any one of these areas can result in a poor brand reputation, lost revenue, and negative reviews. In fact, research shows that more than half of consumers will switch to a competitor after just one poor experience.
So, as a business owner, you have to become adept at addressing customer pain points and turning them into positive experiences with your company. Below, we discuss the different types of pain points and how they may impact your business.
1. Process Pain Points: When It’s Too Hard To Do Business With You
Process pain points occur when customers get frustrated with how your business operates, from scheduling and billing to booking an appointment or reservation. For example, a restaurant might lose customers if it’s difficult to make a reservation. Or a plumber might lose business if the response time is slow when someone calls for service.
These kinds of hiccups cause customers to lose their patience and move on to a company with more seamless processes. To identify potential process pain points, answer the following questions:
- Look closely at appointment cancellations or missed bookings. Are clients having trouble scheduling? If so, where are the issues originating?
- Examine your website’s bounce rates — the percentage of website visitors who leave a site after briefly viewing only one page. How quickly are people leaving your site after clicking over to it?
- Read customer reviews and feedback online. What are customers saying about your business? You might uncover process pain points you weren’t aware of.
How to fix it: Implement automated scheduling software to streamline appointments, and make it easy to book from your website and social media pages. Make sure your website is easy to navigate and clearly tells customers how to take the next step, such as booking an appointment. Townsquare Interactive offers integrated calendars that simplify the booking process and web design services to build intuitive, search-engine-friendly sites.
2. Financial Pain Points: When Customers Think You’re Too Expensive
Pricing is a key driver of customers’ decisions, especially in the current economic climate. McKinsey & Company reports that consumers remain cautious about their spending, despite renewed optimism in the strength of the U.S. economy.
It’s not always about the price itself, however, but about how you present it or how flexible you are with payment options. For example, the issue might not be that your prices are too high, but rather, that you lack financing options or payment plans.
To identify potential financial pain points:
- Take note of whether you’re seeing a lot of abandoned carts or quotes on your website.
- Be aware of which customer groups are balking at your price.
How to fix it: Provide clear, upfront pricing, and fully convey the value of your product or service. Consider offering flexible billing or financing options, potentially working with a third-party financing company with favorable terms for consumers. Townsquare Interactive’s billing tools can simplify the payment process, allowing you to send estimates, invoices, and reminders automatically.
3. Support Pain Points: When Customers Feel Neglected or Unheard
Support-related pain points occur when customers don’t get the assistance they need when they need it. For example, roofing companies or towing services with slow response times risk frustrating clients who need urgent help. Similarly, businesses that neglect follow-ups after a sale miss out on opportunities to get valuable feedback, make improvements, and build customer loyalty.
Indeed, customer support and the overall customer experience can be major contributors to support pain points. Whereas up to 89% of consumers say they’ve switched to a competitor after a poor customer experience, a better CX can boost revenue by 10% to 15%, according to Zippia.
To identify support pain points:
- Track customer response times. How long does it take, on average, to get back to a customer?
- Monitor complaints on social media. Are customers venting frustrations publicly?
- Use surveys to gauge customer satisfaction. Do customers feel heard, supported, and valued?
How to fix it: Automating follow-ups with email and SMS campaigns allows you to acknowledge customers and let them know you care throughout the customer journey. Cloud-based customer relationship (CRM) tools from Townsquare Interactive can also help organize customer information and interactions, making it easy to personalize service and provide better support.
4. Product Pain Points: When Your Offering Doesn’t Meet Customer Expectations
Product pain points occur when customers feel that the product or service they purchased doesn’t meet their expectations. Examples could be a contractor promising a finished project by a certain date and failing to meet timelines, or a restaurant struggling with inconsistent food quality. Misaligned expectations can lead to customer dissatisfaction, poor reviews, and lost business.
Here’s how to identify product pain points:
- Track online reviews. Frequent complaints on Google, Yelp, and other review platforms indicate issues with product quality.
- Monitor returns or cancellations, which may indicate unmet expectations.
- Ask customers for feedback to gain insights into areas where your offering needs improvement.
How to fix it: Addressing product pain points starts with identifying potential product quality issues and potential reasons for poor quality. For instance, a restaurant with a burnt-out chef might need to hire more help or provide additional mentorship.
You can also use Townsquare Interactive’s social media ads to ensure your messaging aligns with what you can deliver.
Alleviate Customer Pain Points With Townsquare Interactive
Identifying and addressing customer pain points allows you to build a business that people love to engage with and refer to other people. Whether you’re managing inquiries, handling payments, or ensuring your services lives up to expectations, understanding customers’ biggest challenges will help you deliver exceptional service and win loyal customers.
At Townsquare Interactive, we know that business owners have enough on their plates. That’s why we offer tools and services to help you tackle customer pain points efficiently. With our business management platform, you can create positive customer experiences that turn prospects into repeat customers and loyal advocates for your brand.
Ready to get started? Request a demo today, and let Townsquare Interactive help you eliminate pain points and strengthen your business.