Problems that cause pain can be acute or chronic, frequent or persistent. Indeed it is likely that some problems you encounter will cause some sort of pain. Pain may be an incentive for a prospect to approach you but be aware they may need specialist attention.
The question suggests three types of pain: physical, psychological and emotional. The first point to note is some problems can involve all three! Physical pain will have an emotional and psychological impact. Psychological and emotional pain can lead to physical pain in various ways. So, let’s have a go at distinguishing them.
Physical Pain
This is perhaps the easiest to identify. We all know what it is and what it feels like. Physical pain may have an immediate and obvious cause or it may not be immediately clear what is causing it.
It is tempting to say leave it to medical practitioners. If there is pain, get it treated by someone who knows what they’re doing.
However, there are circumstances where employers for example need to be concerned about physical pain. Repetitive actions and posture are examples of workplace practices that can have a direct impact on the human body. People will put up with discomfort without complaining for years!
How many managers try sitting in their secretaries’ chairs? I once sat in my PA’s chair and could not believe how uncomfortable it was. She was used to it and never complained. This is not a medical issue, although it may become a medical issue if the problem is not identified and resolved.
Removing the cause of physical pain is not always a medical process.
Psychological Pain
This is about stress and anxiety; it is about how we perceive the world and respond to it.
Everyone benefits from some stress but if the stress never resolves and builds, it can become morbid. Managers who support their staff by praising their work, through supportive meetings and so on can reduce stress in the workplace.
If psychological pain becomes a serious problem it is likely to be seen through a loss of higher faculties. The person suffering psychological pain may not feel pain in any way they can articulate. They will make mistakes, often trivial or frequent or their behaviour will become more abrasive or controlling.
In some ways this is the hardest of the three types of pain to identify, let alone resolve. The problem can become embedded in the person. Any change in their environment could be interpreted in a negative way.
Emotional Pain
It may be hard to disentangle emotional from psychological pain but usually with emotional pain there is a reason. A bereavement, loss of a partner, serious illness are all examples of things that cause emotional pain.
The problem here is often it is not possible to remove the cause. For a bereaved person, for example, their grieving needs to take its course. At least, it is easy to understand the reason and make allowances, provide support, etc.
Where the emotion exhibited arises from psychological pain, there may be no obvious reason for it. An abrasive member of staff may be in psychological pain and it manifests as anger. But even they may not work out the reason for it.
Conclusions
If your customers’ problem can be described as physical, psychological or emotional pain, it helps if you can describe it in your marketing material. That way those who experience pain themselves or in close associates, will see you understand their problem.
It is worth finding out how people with the problem describe the pain themselves. You may know the technical term for the problem you solve but some people with the problem will not recognise it. If you can find out how they describe it and use their language in your marketing, this may be an advantage.
Whilst pain motivates many people, it is not always important. Someone who is anxious about the problems they may encounter in a demanding role, may be motivated by fear of possible future pain. Or are they? They want to be at their best and maybe that is a better offer than alleviation of pain.
How important is pain to your customers?