From – The Customer Magnet : “You must do market research about your target market so you can really understand what their pain points are and what is triggering them to make buying decisions…If you’re selling business cards the pain might be “losing customers”, “being ignored” or “going out of business”. If you’re selling gas boilers the pain could be “poor quality competition”, “high maintenance costs”, “bad reliability” or “being freezing cold in winter when the old boiler breaks down”.” Do you think that employing the above strategy is unfairly taking advantage of your customers?
I can't stop laughing at the question... I once offered to hit someone with a hammer to prove my pain reliever works. But yes, providing a SOLUTION to people's pain (er, problems) is the way to sell anything. Selling is not rocket science, it is filling a need - even if the customer doesn't know they need it - yet.
If you are providing a good quality product that is providing a solution to the problem, then no I don't believe this is taking advantage of your customer.
Regardless of the form it takes, pain of any kind is a reality that most people have a natural tendency to avoid. Any marketing strategy that highlights the "pain" of inconvenience, unnecessary expense and other unpleasant experiences, and offers a handy solution in exchange, is useful. Pain is just one of many triggers that can be used to influence people into making a buying decision. Hermas
Look at TV commercials for Insurance. They show cars getting into accidents, people's property being damaged, etc. And Alarm companies try to instill the fear of a break in for instance. Depending on the product, pain/fear can work well.
