Although marketing is a competitive and constantly evolving field, one thing that never changes is that companies that serve customers the best will realize greater profits. However, it’s impossible to give customers what they want without really knowing them. Success requires investing time and resources into not only who a company’s customers are but also why they behave the way they do. The tips below can help any business become better acquainted with its customers in order to serve them well and increase sales.
Spend as Much Time with Customers as Possible
A company must know how people use its product or service to truly understand customer motivations and pain points. Unfortunately, few sales professionals who have moved up in the ranks take the time to do this. When brand managers do speak directly to customers, it’s usually in the artificial environment of a focus group or by spending a few hours in a retail store that sells its company’s products.
Truly getting to know customers means spending time in their preferred environment and not in a corporate office. Seeing their challenges first hand brings a higher level of empathy as well as the willingness to tailor products and services to an even greater degree.
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Analyze the Competition
Knowing customers also means understanding what the competition can offer them. Every company should make a habit of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the closest competitors at least once a year. This can uncover valuable information regarding how the company can better serve its customers as well as demonstrate how its own products or services differ from those of the competition. Here are some specific questions to apply to each competitor:
# What is that company’s current market share?
# What value proposition does the competitor offer, and what is its main product or service?
# What are the top three strengths and weaknesses of each competitor company?
# Which brands and products that the competitor sells are performing the best? What are the reasons for this?
After evaluating the answers to these questions, the next step should focus on developing a strategy that places the company at an advantage over similar businesses in the same industry.
Invest in Customer Behavioral Analysis Software
Successful marketing in today’s climate means knowing what customers want at the exact moment they realize they need it. For example, a business that sells insulated dog houses would want to ensure that it came up at the top of search engine results when the weather starts cooling down and dog owners became concerned about their comfort.
They might also publish helpful blog posts or videos about keeping animals warm outdoors. Since no business can read the mind of its customers, it requires several integrative tools to truly understand their needs and motivations.
Customers expect personalization without businesses coming right out and asking them questions that would help to deliver it. This means marketers need to employ tools that provide multiple data points in real time. With this information literally at their fingertips, marketers can achieve the task of delivering what customers want on their timetable.
