Solutions May Surface in the Still of the Night

“Necessity is the mother of invention!” The first time I heard this was nearly twenty years ago when I was introduced to Tony Robbins’ material. I have to admit, the first time I heard this it didn’t quite register.

However, nearly three decades later, it makes all the sense in the world. In fact, a majority of the things we take for granted were created out of a need. When the need became great enough, someone figured out a solution.

An excellent example of creative problem solving comes from Jo Capista, DDS, a Pennsylvania based dentist specializing in general and cosmetic dentistry. One of his greatest challenges was positioning his message about his top-notch cosmetic dentistry services to his market. As he analyzed his market and those who would invest in cosmetic dentistry, he knew he had to use unconventional marketing strategies to reach potential patients.

Dr. Capista began offering complimentary public information seminars. He promoted the seminars in neighborhood newspapers and with posters strategically placed throughout his region. The response to his first session was overwhelming. So much in fact he repeated the process several times with incredible results both in name recognition and revenues.

The next step was to do the seminars with other businesses who shared a similar market. Again, the process proved extremely successful. He then decided to invest in a vendor space at a body and bath expo. As with the other strategies, the expo was equally as successful.

I had the opportunity to talk in detail with Dr. Capista about why he feels all of this is working. Simply put, preparation, delivery and follow up. And of course, making sure he is targeting the right market for his services.

Like Dr. Capista, countless people have excellent ideas that solve a common problem; solutions that will definitely work. Unlike Dr. Capista, they either don’t test their idea or if they do, they get busy with day-to-day activities and lose their focus, thus losing their potential for seeing how successful their idea could have been.

Often, it is in the still of the night, the answers surface. A simple strategy that will help you to identify a solution you may be able to provide to others is to ask yourself the following question, “What keeps you or your customers awake at night?”

Regardless of the size of a company, it is essential to constantly seek solutions to your customer’s problems. Once you find a solution, take action and commit the time, money and resources to the end result. When your customer is looking for a solution, who do you want them to go to – your or your competition?