Customer Pain Point Identification
Identifying Customer Pain Points Through Competitive Differentiation
This prompt helps sales teams identify customer pain points by comparing their challenges with shortcomings in competing products. It focuses on asking targeted questions to uncover dissatisfaction with current solutions and positioning your software as a superior alternative.
Responsible:
Sales
Accountable, Informed or Consulted:
Sales, Marketing
THE PREP
Creating effective prompts involves tailoring them with detailed, relevant information and uploading documents that provide the best context. Prompts act as a framework to guide the response, but specificity and customization ensure the most accurate and helpful results. Use these prep tips to get the most out of this prompt:
Research competitors’ offerings and common shortcomings.
Identify customer testimonials or case studies that highlight successful switches from competitors.
Prepare tailored feature comparisons or ROI analyses that align with common challenges.
THE PROMPT
Help develop a conversation strategy for identifying customer pain points by discussing their experiences with competing solutions in [specific industry or task]. Focus on:
Understanding Current Tools: Recommending questions to explore what they use now, such as, ‘What tools or solutions are you currently using to manage [specific process]?’ or ‘How effective has [Competitor’s Tool] been in solving [specific challenge]?’
Uncovering Dissatisfaction: Proposing questions to pinpoint frustrations, such as, ‘What do you wish your current solution could do better?’ or ‘Have you experienced limitations or issues with [Competitor]? If so, what are they?’
Highlighting Opportunities: Suggesting ways to connect their challenges to your product’s strengths, such as, ‘Many of our customers faced similar issues before switching to [Product Name], which helped them [specific benefit, like improve efficiency or reduce costs].’
Providing Value: Recommending follow-ups like tailored demos or competitive comparisons, such as, ‘Would you be interested in seeing how [Product Name] addresses these gaps?’
Call-to-Action: Including next steps that keep the conversation moving, such as, ‘Let’s set up a brief session to explore how we can help overcome these challenges.’
Provide example scripts or email templates tailored to [specific competitor or industry], ensuring responses demonstrate empathy and value alignment. If additional details about the competitor or customer’s challenges are needed, ask clarifying questions to refine the dialogue.
Bonus Add-On Prompts
Propose strategies for creating competitor comparison sheets to support pain point discussions.
Suggest ways to tailor follow-ups to customers who express dissatisfaction with specific features or services.
Highlight techniques for handling competitive objections and pivoting the conversation to your product’s strengths.
Use AI responsibly by verifying its outputs, as it may occasionally generate inaccurate or incomplete information. Treat AI as a tool to support your decision-making, ensuring human oversight and professional judgment for critical or sensitive use cases.
SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE
Focus on specific customer segments, such as SMBs or enterprises, for tailored pain point discovery.
Include tips for addressing industry-specific competitor limitations.
Propose ways to use surveys or polls to gather insights about competitor dissatisfaction at scale.
Highlight tools for tracking competitive data and customer feedback in a CRM.
Add suggestions for incorporating pain point discoveries into product development feedback loops.
WHEN TO USE
During conversations with customers using competing products who may be open to switching.
To identify dissatisfaction with current solutions in your market segment.
When positioning your product as a superior alternative based on unique strengths.
WHEN NOT TO USE
If the customer is completely satisfied with their current solution and uninterested in alternatives.
When targeting customers who lack experience with competing tools.