I’m coaching the CEO of an international distributor of child development toys. In addition to helping her establish her online brand, build her content development strategy, create processes to scale her business, and author a book, I’m building a market segmentation strategy.
One of the markets we’ve identified is the special needs market. As the rate of autism and developmental delay diagnoses continues to skyrocket (1 in 50 children now are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder according to the Centers for Disease Control), the need for therapeutic intervention has created new business opportunities.
The first thing we did was segment the special needs market into sub-segments, including auditory processing, visual processing, oral processing, sensory-motor integration, and other segments.
After this, I gave my client some homework. I asked her to research organizations that serve these segments and become familiar with their visions, missions, and values.
Only when we understand the motivations and missions of our customers can we create a compelling mission statement that inspires a customer to trust us. There is a big difference between selling a product or service and fulfilling a mission.
The research yielded incredible insight into the social, emotional, cognitive, physical, and economic consequences of raising a child with special needs. My client has always had a passion for child development. However, this research created a level of compassion, insight, and understanding that she didn’t previously have. And it made her even more committed to fulfilling her own mission of helping EVERY child reach their highest potential.
Our company missions must address a pain point. It’s not just about bringing a solution to the market that is faster, cheaper, stronger, more efficient, more economical, etc. The question we must be able to answer is “What pain does this alleviate?” To learn this, go beyond understanding your customer. Go one level deeper to understanding your customer’s customer. Then you will really get what drives your buyer.
What steps have you taken to understand and fulfill your customer’s missions? How has a deeper level of understanding impacted your desire to help your customer succeed? Please share your experiences.
Keep growing!
~Marissa
PS: John Lee Dumas, host of the #1 Entrepreneur Podcast “Entrepreneur on Fire,” interviewed me about my 20-year bootstrapping journey. I share many lessons learned, my “failures,” my aspirations, and my inspirations here in a 30-minute rapid-fire interview. Listeners have described my show as one of the most insightful and valuable segments they have heard to date! Check it out and let me know what you think!
