What Problems Does Your Organization Solve?

Contrary to popular belief, companies are not in business solely as a means to make money. Instead they exist to solve problems and address the needs of clients, while getting paid along the way for the value that they bring.

While some businesses continue to own an identity consistent with when they started, maintaining the same offerings and serving the same client base, others change course pivoting to new opportunities or reinventing themselves completely.  For manufacturers or resellers this can be overtly defined by the products they offer.  However, for service providers, adjustments to offerings and of target clients can be much more subtle.  The spectrum of offerings and depth of the relationship with clients can be more fluid as service-based businesses acclimate to meet market opportunities and evolving demands.

Service providers tend to be the sum of their team.  Their level of expertise, experience, and capabilities evolve as the company matures and staff grows.  This is especially true for small businesses, where each hire may represent a significant change in the company’s overall capability, availability, and value to clients.  Additionally, the strategic growth of a team offers added depth, expansion of skills, diversity, stability, and appeal to clients looking to expand a relationship.

As time goes on and service providers evolve, it is important they are clear on the breadth of offerings they provide, the clients they serve, and the needs they address.  Failure to market themselves and to continuously remind target audiences of how they can help leads to missed opportunities and more importantly unserved clients.  It’s unfortunate how often clients are unaware of the all the ways a service provider can help them, which benefits neither party.

Here are a few ways that companies can build their identity and inform their audience of the services they offer, specifically what problems they solve, for their clients.

Clearly communicating the value a business provides and clients it serves is a key starting point.  Like a storefront, a company website should attract and connect with potential clients validating they have come to the right place to find a potential fit for their needs.  Fresh content, relevant information, and a navigation path that is specific to targeted audiences will facilitate this engagement.

Next, content that speaks directly to each target audience should be prominently presented and easy to access.  In alignment with the saying “sharing is caring,” readily offering knowledge and free information demonstrate expertise and build trust with the client.

Finally, taking the time to specifically define the problems a business solves  provides a clear message as to who they can help and who would be best served by others.  This not only delineates an ideal client, but also allows a client to verify an ideal service provider.  In the end, both parties benefit from a good match and avoid investing time if a fit is not there.

At Control Concepts, we have four defined target audiences:  Manufacturers, Technology Managers, Consultants, and Integrators and have specific problems we solve defined for each.  As we evolve, we continue to update our messaging and still find that our clients are surprised to learn the many ways we can provide value for them.

Here are just a few of the problems Control Concepts solves:

• For manufacturers, we help make products easier for integrators and programmers to implement with control systems through module/driver/plugin development and support.
• For technology managers, we offer standardization solutions and address the need for consistent programming across an entire enterprise.
• For consultants, we provide predictable outcomes for their projects and address the need for a known programming solution for their clients.
• For integrators, we address the need for handling complex, large-scale projects requiring an expanded skill set and increased bandwidth.

Every business or organization has problems they solve for their clients.  However, they are not always clearly defined, understood, or effectively communicated to their audience.  Too often companies focus on their accolades, certifications, and solutions they offer rather than listening to what their clients say is most important to them and addresses their needs. By defining the problems a business solves, more clients will find ways to connect with the business, verify that they are engaging with someone who understands them, and validate that the will get the results the desire.