Your customer has changed this last year – do you know much how they have changed? Has it just been a little or a lot or have they gone away all together?
Keeping pace with the nuances of the customer base is a vital component in the sales and marketing process. So where and how do you tap into their minds in order to analyze their heart beat?
I have a couple of suggestions for you. But before I talk about the methods of collecting attitudes and opinions, let’s look at the questions you could pose to them. [Please note a professional researcher should be called in to create your questions so that you have actionable data points to move forward.] These are just a few questions to get your mind thinking about what you would like to know – from the “horses mouth”.
How did they initially learn about you?
What motivated them to choose you as a vendor/supplier?
How long have they been you customer?
How satisfied are they with the level of service and support they receive from you?
What is their biggest frustration in dealing with you and your services?
How have you satisfied or delighted them?
Collecting these pieces and more can aid you in understanding their requirements.
Ultimately , you want to know what their company challenges are and where you might fit into a solution for them.
Now how do you go about assessing their attitudes and opinions?
On the qualitative side there are focus groups (both in person and online) and/or one on one interviews. For the quantitative research are surveys which can be online or mail. There are pros and cons to each of these methods which can be discussed with your research person.
One of my current clients was creating a new generation of his product and hired me to conduct some research for him. He was entering the research with some pretty strong bias of what the product should be. But he was wise to conduct this research, for the online focus groups changed his thought process and opened up his thinking. Overall this will save him precious dollars for he now can create a product that is “spot on” with the needs of his potential customers.
Be smart and close the gap between how the customer is perceiving you and what reality is. Current customers are precious in this economic climate. Take the time to listen to them.
Let me know if I can be of any help, joycemckee (at) letstalktradeshows (dot) com.
