Sunday, December 6, 2009

Customers... Do you really know who they are?

With all the things small and medium sized businesses must focus on, it is easy for things to get overlooked. One of these is knowing exactly who you are selling to. If you ask most small and medium sized business owners, they would likely give you a target group, demographic or market segment. However, if you asked them to describe in detail a target customer by combining more unique or personal factors of specific customers, they would be hard pressed to do so. This lack of pinpoint focus on who an organization’s customers will sure to limit their ability to market even the most life altering, must have product, effectively.

In my position of coordinating conferences, I interact with some of the most influential Chief Marketing Officers in the country on a daily basis. Knowing who their current and potential consumers are is one of the key points that we always end up discussing. This involves a very complex process that most small and medium business owners cannot afford to do at the level it needs to be done at; however, it does not mean it should be ignored. Reaching out to your customers and building relationships with them, so they are open to sharing personal information process will allow you to gain an insight in to their behavioral trends and psychographics in the same manner Fortune 500 companies do on a mass scale. While this sounds like a daunting process that most small and medium sized businesses don't have the skills, resources, and human capital to delve that deeply into (congratulations if you do though), getting to know your customers can be done by every business.

Furthermore it must also be remembered that getting to know your customers is an ongoing process. Throughout your organizations life span, the product or products you sell, along with the needs, wants and interests of your consumers will change. However a successful company will maintain enough flexibility in its marketing so that it can grow and accommodate the changing demands of their consumers. This can only be accomplished by reaching out to them and by building relationships with them. By considering the interaction between your business and you customers as more than just a sales transaction, you will afford yourself the chance to learn your customers. It is pivotal to develop a relationship with them so that you are able to ask customers honest questions about their spending habits, current interests and what they are noticing about your business as an outsider looking in. Obtaining this type of personal information will allow you to gain an insight in to their behavioral trends and psychographics in the same manner Fortune 500 companies are able to do on a mass scale, but for a lot less.

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