Don't solve the #2 problem
Most professionals work towards several goals at the same time. For instance, if you work in sales, you're probably thinking in terms of how much revenue you sell, how many demo conversations you have, and how long it takes you to close your deals. If you're in product, you likely think in terms of how many people use your product, how often they use it, and whether you're shipping new features on time.
Every role is a little different. But no matter how many goals are defined, when pressed, most people can tell you which one is higher priority than all the others. This is the goal where, if pushed, they'd trade off everything else to achieve it. If they hit this goal, they get promoted. If they miss it, they get fired.
Whatever problem stands in the way of hitting this goal is the #1 problem.
Working on the #1 problem: High risk, high reward
When I worked in a large company, I had a really simple principle for choosing my roles: I got as close as I could to owning my boss's #1 problem, and their boss's #1 problem, and their boss's #1 problem. As high up the chain as I could go.
When my #1 problem aligned with my leadership's #1 problem, I had the most input on my work, I had the most resources to support my success, and I learned the most. When I solved the problem, I was rewarded for it, both with promotions and with the opportunity to own more important problems. If you own the #1 problem, you won't be able to hide or take it easy, but you can accelerate your career by leaps and bounds. High visibility, high risk, high reward.
Your customers have #1 problems too
The same principles apply if you're building a product or service for a customer. Solve their #2 problem and you might get their business for a while. But if you solve their #1 problem and prevent it from reoccurring, you'll be partners forever.
Solving the #1 problem demands constant budget, staff, and time. The #2 problem just doesn't command the same spend or long-term commitment.
If you're building something for customers, and you're not solving their #1 problem, don't be deceived by your business's apparent growth. You're setting yourself up for trouble down the line.
How do you know if you're solving your customer's #1 problem?
Performance is measured systematically
Most CEOs rigorously track revenue metrics. They know the company's quarterly goals, broken down by product and division. They know how sales attainment is progressing at any given time. They know how much revenue is growing or shrinking every quarter.
On the other hand, I don't know many CEOs who track cost per hire with nearly the same stringency. In fact, a CEO would likely only track cost per hire at the top level in the event of a cost explosion that threatened the viability of the company.
You can tell how an organization defines their #1 problem by looking at what they measure. If you're offering a product or service to a customer, you'll be a lot more successful if you solve for the thing they already measure.
People are promoted or fired based on performance
Why does the CEO track revenue performance? Because if the CEO chronically misses on revenue, the board usually finds a new CEO.
Not long ago, I met with an HR exec at Fortune 100 company. They were complaining about how poor their managers' feedback skills were, regretting all the trainings that hadn't worked.
I asked a question. "If a manager hits all their deliverables, but they never give feedback to the people on their team, does the manager get fired or promoted?"
The CHRO answered without hesitation. "If they hit all their deliverables? They get promoted."
I said, "Seems like we've found your feedback problem."
If it's not important enough for your customer to fire someone over, then it's not a #1 problem.
Resources to solve the #1 problem make it through budget cuts
When business is good, companies make all kinds of investments. They hire lots of people. They experiment with new tools. They offer new employee benefits. When an organization is operating from excess, they invest broadly, often without thinking through the ROI.
But when times are tough, every investment gets an extra level of scrutiny. Everything other than the #1 problem pales in comparison. #2 problems are less resilient to resource changes, layoffs, and leadership shifts. Just ask anyone whose resources have ever gotten cut in favor of something more important to their organization.
Two simple questions can help
When I work with clients, I use two simple questions to help them think through whether their offering truly addresses their customer's #1 problem:
- What is your buyer's #1 problem? When I say "buyer," I'm talking about the specific individual who will sign your contract. Is this what your offering solves for? The more clearly you solve their #1 problem, the more likely it is that you're their most important solution.
- Is your buyer's #1 problem the same as their boss's #1 problem? How about their boss's problem? The higher up the chain you see alignment, the more likely it is that you're solving a robust #1 problem.
The bottom line: If your business has a churn problem, your solution just isn't solving your buyer's #1 problem. Some of this you can anticipate ahead of time. If it's not measured, and it's not something your customer gets promoted or fired for, it's not their #1 problem.
What do you think?
Thanks for reading!
Kieran
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