So how do we gather data about problems? You know, how do we know what their problem is? Let's look at different ways we might be able to gather data about these problems that we're trying to solve. And we're trying to direct our marketing mission statement that most problems are lifestyle problems. Something is affecting their lifestyle at some level. And I remember having a discussion with someone about this and they were talking about actually you know, the guy who's buying toner cartridge in the office, that's not a lifestyle issue.

He's just got to buy toner cartridge at the right price. And then I point out actually no is a lifestyle at his office lifestyle. If he doesn't, if there's if there's not tone it in and he's responsible for ordering that can make his life difficult. If the delivery doesn't turn up on time, that can make his life difficult. If it Not the right price if he's paying too much, that can make life difficult for him. So he's got an inherent personal need for a good service to solve that problem.

Because if it goes wrong, he's the one who suffers. Even the entrepreneur can be in the same scenario if they don't have so you could look at a solopreneur. For instance, you might say that they want cartridge toner. Well, then not such a big, that's not a big issue isn't. It is if they run a printed cartridge just prior to a meeting. So we can start thinking about their lifestyle problems.

Their lifestyle affects everything and something is affecting their life at some level, so something is affecting their lifestyle at some level. So where are we going to get information about these lifestyle products? But what sources can we look at? We've got questions, we've got conversations, and we've got stories, these tends to be the main places you're going to find where people are communicating their problems. So let's say for instance, questions, customer questions. When someone comes to you asking questions about your services, treat that as an information source.

And what you're looking for is the really stupid questions. The stupid questions are stupid to you, but not to your potential client. Now, those questions often tend to be the most common ones. So when people ask you the same question over and over again, that is indicating that that question is a problem that has high value when it comes to you solving it, because lots of people have that problem. That's why you keep getting that question. So customer questions, client emails, conversations, forums, online are a good place to pick up conversations, social media, groups about specific topics, people will have conversations and you'll see what the problem is in relation to your service and your products that you can then meet and target and they'll tell you what their problems are.

And also listen for stories, customer stories as well, because they will tell you, oftentimes, the lifestyle issue behind that question. You know, it'll be, you know, I took my daughter shopping, and I couldn't find the right nappies. I wish I had somewhere online, I could just order them and they'll convey in a story so listen out for stories from your existing customers, again on social media, again, In the press, anywhere where information is transmitted about your particular product area, that's a place where you can tap in to information about the problem. So now we need to step into the skin. We need to imagine being them. We met many to imagine how they are affected by the problem, you know, the how does that toner cartridge the office manager who needs to order the toner cartridge had the feel when the order doesn't come in, right or has the field when it stock levels have fell below.

You know, I used to work in manufacturing and one of the really clever things that I learned that we would train our suppliers to do was we would get them to come in and do our stock control and the businesses that were willing to come in and do a stock control on certain items. They were the ones we use a we didn't have to worry about cost, and be there and he delivered what we needed. And they would operate what we call a Kanban system, which is they would look come in, look at the stock and restock it for you. What's that? What is that just done? That's just removed a massive issue a massive problem where people aren't going to stop check on a regular basis, put an order in, put an invoice in, get it approved by the supervisor, get it approved by the manager.

So imagine being there, imagine how they're affected by the problem. Imagine how that makes them feel. We really must get into the emotion of why someone is trying to solve a problem, why someone is potentially looking for a product to solve that problem, that problem or why they're looking for a service to help them with that problem. How do they feel about that? These are some of the things we have to think about. So we need to break the problem down let's break it into three sections.

Let's call it physical, intellectual. Emotional will leave a spiritual to one side for a moment. Let's just keep it simple physical, intellectual, and emotional. physical needs can be warm security. Intellectual needs can be problem solving, with computer software to speed up a certain process. Emotional can be something related to family, birthdays, it can be, you know, how you're feeling at work, how effective you can be all of these different these free elements.

When we examine them and think about the problem, we'll start to get some ideas of what it is that the person is going to prioritize when they're looking for a product or service. And now we can start to think about how we're going to match our mission statement to that. So if we create a document, we can make a list of the court problems your potential client has and we can incorporate in the most important element from your list, then the mental, emotional or physical. We can look at that look at the most important elements and draw that out. Now we're beginning to gather data we're thinking about and what happens is, after all, you don't have to do this because you naturally start thinking this way. But this just helps you get going helps you start thinking about the process in this way.

It helps you to start developing the empathy you need to actually create good marketing titles and good marketing mission statements.