Talk to your customers to find out what makes them tick.
Figuring out your customers' wants and needs is an essential part of strategizing your business plans. The most effective way to do this is to simply ask. It sounds easy enough, but many business owners hang back and rely heavily on passive feedback from occasional customer comments or emails. Throw caution to the wind, get out there among your clients and gather their thoughts for the most effective--and quickest--route to that all-important feedback.
Instructions
Get to know your customers
1. Contact customers directly. Find out which of your services they prefer and ask what they think you should change, why they don't use your services more often, if they've ever had a negative experience and what you can do to improve things. Pick the most effective way to reach out to customers for your business--an in-house survey if you're running a small store or email or telephone contact for a web design business. Remember to thank customers for their replies and inform them of your changes.
2. Get outside help. Hire an external market research company to gather feedback on your behalf. This may be an expensive route to take but could be worth it in the long run. Customers are much more likely to open up and really speak their minds to an impartial third party.
3. Conduct an A/B split test. Create two different product lines and simply wait to see which is most successful. Discontinue the less effective product and run your best-seller against a new line. This is an effective way to continually upgrade your product and ensure that you are delivering exactly what the customer wants.
4. Gather third-party research. Contact a similar business that isn't in direct competition with you. For example if you are an inner-city hairdressers, contact a similarly situated hair salon in another city to swap customer feedback and exchange tips on improving customer satisfaction. Alternatively, join a professional association so that you have access to industry resources about consumer trends in your field.
5. Research online blogs and forums related to your business to find out what works for both customers and other similar businesses. This will provide you will invaluable and impartial research that can help to improve the satisfaction of your own client base.
6. Create feedback business cards. Include your email address and telephone number and a phrase like, "Are you happy with our service? Please let us know if you have any comments, questions or concerns." Hand the cards out to all customers so that they are aware that you are serious about improving their satisfaction. This is a great way to reach out to customers and allowing them to contact you, if they wish, at their own pace--without the pressure of a formal survey.
7. Arrange a face-to-face meeting. Wine and dine your big-spending regulars and use the opportunity to assess how you can better meet their needs. A party for customers serves the double purpose of showing your appreciation of their support for your brand, as well as gathering that all-important feedback.
8. Train your employees to interact with customers and find out what they like. Depending on your business type, your employees are likely to be the ones interacting with customers on a daily basis. Ask them to spark up conversations and assess points like who the customer is in terms of age and income, and why they are buying your product. This will help you to build a customer-orientated brand.
