The key to any successful business has always been, and will always be, its customers. Without customers, all you have is a very expensive hobby.
No matter how many different facets there are to your business, in the end, it always comes back to your customers. So why do so many businesses fail when it comes to connecting with their customers?
For all their importance, many companies seem to forget that their customers are people, not just faceless numbers. Without that human connection, you could have the best product with the biggest marketing budget in the world and it won’t make the slightest bit of difference. The first and most important thing that you need to do is to connect with your customers.
Here are a few simple tips to help you do just that.
Know Who They Are
You can’t connect with someone if you have no idea who they are.
Shocking, right?
The first step to take to connect with your customers is to do as much research as possible. Make sure that your market research is rich and detailed. Don’t just think that a vague idea of the age and gender of your target customer will be enough. You need to know the other businesses that they use, what their interests are – what really makes them tick. You should do so much research that you would be able to pick your target customer out of a line-up in seconds.
Get Personal
A personal touch is a seriously powerful tool when it comes to your customers. Customers aren’t interested in faceless companies. Surprise, surprise, they want to connect with other people.
Look at the ways that face-to-face businesses connect with their customers. For example, retail and coffee shops often have extremely close relationships with their customers.
What Do Your Customers Want?
If you really want to connect with your customers, then you’ve got to have something to offer. Go beyond just the products you’re offering.
Look at your competition, or other companies that your customers may connect with. What are those businesses offering? If you can figure that out, you’ll have a starting point to understand what your customers want from a business. Do they want a strong ethical or moral stance? Are they looking for something that represents family values?
Mining Negative Feedback
One of the best ways to figure out what your customers want is negative feedback. Sure, negative feedback can be tough to deal with sometimes but learning how to respond to negative reviews and how to learn from them is one of the best things you can do for your business. That way, you’re able to understand the necessary changes to your business. Don’t get angry at negative feedback – use it as an opportunity to improve.
Remember that your customers are all individuals, and you should treat them like that. The last thing that you want to do is treat your customers like a single, monolithic entity that will respond in exactly the same way to everything you do. That attitude won’t help you be successful – and it’s definitely more fun spending your days helping people than helping faceless entities.
