Pain-point messaging

Pain-point messaging earns attention by giving the prospect a recognizable problem to inspect. Start with a situation they may be living through, describe the trouble in their language, and let them decide whether it deserves a conversation. Pain-identification discovery does not work well in outbound.¹ Your message therefore needs to offer plausible problems before the prospect has explained them. Let the prospect correct you and follow the problem they recognize. This turns the message into a recognition test and gives you a reason to continue.

Find the situation

Start with something happening in the prospect's world. A broad promise gives you little to work with. A specific situation gives the prospect something they can recognize or reject.

Research the prospect, identify the pain point, and target the email at that pain.² Ask about a sufficiently painful situation, and the prospect can often identify the problem from there.³ For risk-based messaging, identify the email the prospect never wants to receive, such as a system outage notice.⁴

Before you write, answer these questions:

• What situation might the prospect be dealing with?
• What goes wrong when that situation continues?
• What would the prospect see, hear, or have to explain because of it?

Use the words the prospect would use to describe the situation. Familiar language makes the problem feel closer to the prospect's own experience.⁵ If you cannot describe the situation without naming your product, keep working on the account context.

Turn the situation into a problem

The situation is raw material. The message becomes useful when it shows what that situation causes and gives the prospect a reason to examine it.

Turn information about the prospect's situation into a problem.⁶ Keep the conversation focused on the prospect's problems.⁷ Address the highest-priority issue first.⁸ The first pain point the prospect mentions is usually the most important.⁹

Listen for the problem they own, the effect they can describe, and why it deserves attention now. Ask questions such as:

• Where does this create work for you?
• What happens when the issue remains unresolved?
• Who else has to deal with the result?

Recognition is the aim. When a prospect corrects your description, they are giving you useful direction, even if the correction changes your original angle.

Write the problem proposition

Compress the situation and its consequence into language that can open the conversation. Keep it concrete enough to feel familiar and open enough for the prospect to disagree.

The singular sentence that summarizes the buyer's challenge is called the pain sentence.¹⁰ The pitch that leads with the problem is called a problem proposition.¹¹ Describe the triggering problem with enough detail to evoke a painful visual memory for the prospect.¹²

Use this working structure:

"When [situation] happens, [problem] follows. Is that something you are dealing with?"

Replace the brackets with the prospect's situation and language. Keep the problem in view while the prospect decides whether it fits. Leading with the problem helps the prospect care about the solution that addresses it.¹³

Check the draft against these tests:

• Can the prospect picture the situation without knowing your product?
• Does the sentence describe a problem they might admit to having?
• Does the question invite correction instead of demanding agreement?

If the draft describes your process, rewrite it around the prospect's problem. If it lists benefits, remove them until the problem is clear.

Give the prospect a menu

A single assumption can make the message feel forced. A short menu gives the prospect several plausible ways to respond while keeping the conversation in the area where you can help.

Prepare three or four problem-oriented topics from your view of the prospect's situation.¹⁴ A menu of pain primes the prospect to discuss problems in the area where you can help.¹⁵ Ask, "Are any of these things that you're trying to solve?"¹⁶

The menu gives the prospect room to correct you.¹⁷ If they choose a problem, follow it. If they reject every option, change the angle instead of defending the list.

Keep each option close to a situation the prospect could recognize. Avoid abstract categories that require the prospect to translate your language before answering. The prospect should be able to say which problem fits, explain why it fits, or tell you that the premise is wrong.

Let recognition set the direction

Once the prospect recognizes a problem, stop widening the message. Follow the detail they have given you and let their answer determine the next question.

Highlighting a problem and letting prospects reach their own conclusions is a good way to start a conversation.¹⁸ Outbound also requires education: the problem needs to be known both to you and to the person experiencing it.¹⁹

Ask what the problem looks like in practice. Eliciting visceral detail helps you sell the solution to that pain.²⁰ Listen for the consequence they care about, the work the problem creates, and the point where they want it resolved. Making the prospect feel the gap can create commitment to continue the conversation.²¹

Move on when the prospect has confirmed the problem or corrected it into a better version. You then have a message worth continuing. If the prospect cannot recognize the problem, treat that as a messaging signal and test a different situation.

Carry the pain across the account

A recognized problem can reveal related problems outside the original conversation. Use that information to widen the account view without losing the problem the prospect already accepted.

Raise problems that other departments may be experiencing when the prospect presents one type of pain.²² If the prospect uses another provider, ask about a situation with that provider that you know is painful.²³ The pain you uncover should inform how you position the relevant feature later.²⁴

Keep the sequence intact: establish the problem, learn how it shows up, then connect your solution to that specific problem. A feature earns attention when the prospect can place it against a problem they already recognize.

What not to do

These mistakes make the message harder to recognize and easier to dismiss.

• Pitch the prospect's problem. Leave abstract processes and unrequested products out of the pitch.²⁵
• Lead with the problem before discussing benefits. Traditional value propositions typically pitch benefits instead of the prospect's problems.²⁶
• Offer possible problems for the prospect to assess instead of relying on an entirely open-ended pain question.²⁷
• Avoid leading questions such as, "You really struggling with pipeline right now?"²⁸
• Let the prospect decide how far to go rather than forcing them deeper into a pain funnel²⁹

Before your next send, write the situation, the problem sentence, and the recognition question in the prospect's language. Use the reply to choose which problem deserves the next message and which assumptions need to be discarded.