Find Business Grants
Graphic image of letter A

Do You Listen To Your Customers?

Creating a happy, harmonious and ongoing relationship with customers is an achievement and an admirable accomplishment for any business. Listening to what consumers need and accurately responding is the key to success, but let's face it, it's not always that easy.

Collecting data about your customers is the key to meeting their needs.

Theres no doubt that the better a company serves its customers, the more success its going to welcome through the doors.

Businesses spend millions trying to attract new customers or win back lapsed ones and yet often neglect to develop their existing customer relationships. How annoying is it to find out that your current mobile phone network provider is offering new customers a deal that is half the price of your package? And what do you get for years of loyalty to the same company? Absolutely nothing – often, not even a discount on your calls. So at the first opportunity you show them whos really boss, cut your losses, and head off to a company that will give you a better deal. No one would blame you for that and it happens time and time again. Businesses lose out because theyre just not giving their existing customers the attention they deserve.
So how do you make sure that youre keeping everyone happy? In a nutshell, you need to know who your customers are what they want. Successfully managing your relationship with your customers involves digging a little deeper and finding out more about their purchasing habits, their opinions and their preferences. Record this data, as profiling individuals makes for more effective marketing and will lead to a increased sales. You may also need to rethink your operations to improve customer service and marketing.

Its all about enhancing the customer experience, and while implementing methods for customer development may take some time and a significant monetary investment, the rewards will be apparent in no time and will strengthen the business considerably.

So how do you go about it? Well its best to look at the process and break it down into steps.

The first step will be to collect as much data as you possibly can from your existing clients. Capturing this information will mean that you can see exactly who your customers are and their shopping patterns and behaviour. If your business is operating a website then thats an ideal way of collecting data, as the customer is doing half of the work for you already by entering their personal information on to the site. Make sure the information gleaned is on a centralised database so it can be accessed and updated by all relevant people.

The second step involves analysing customer behaviour. If this all sounds a bit Big Brother thats because, well, it is. But it does allow for a deeper understanding of how to address customer needs. There are plenty of data tools and software available now to allow you to collect, profile and develop sales strategies from this information.

The third step will take you to a more efficient form of marketing. Once youve gathered the information, you need to make sure that what you do with it isnt a complete waste of time and money. What many firms find is that although they have a wide and varied database of customers, in fact most of their profit is generated from a small percentage of customers. Find out who these people are and target them by rewarding them as your most loyal customers.

Its a pretty simple concept really: nurture your current customers and your brand and reputation will go from strength to strength.


0

Guest Articles Welcomed

As we cannot be experts in every relevant subject, we would love to receive 'guest' articles that may be of interest to anyone running their own business or thinking of doing so. ADD YOUR ARTICLE