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It’s Only Common Sense: Get to Know Your Customers

No matter what business you are in, understanding your customers is crucial if you want to thrive. You must have a complete understanding of who they are, their business, and what it takes to be successful. In short, you have to see things from their perspective.

Too often, we assume we know who our customers are and what they want, but without the proper research and vetting, we can be wrong, which can really send us on the wrong path when it comes to accurately providing them exactly what it is they need from us, our products, and our services.

Over the years, I have developed some solid ways to dig into and find out who your customers are and what they need. Here are 11 ways to help you gather pertinent information about your current and prospective customers, get a clear perspective of their market, what it takes for them to be successful in their marketplace, and how you can help.

• Conduct surveys: Surveys are an effective way to directly ask your customers about their preferences, needs, and feedback. Utilize online survey tools or conduct in-person surveys to gather valuable insights. It's as simple as that: Just ask them. You can find out what they need and, here’s the fun part, get some insight into what they think of you and your company. To be clear, I am talking about real one-on-one surveys where you actually talk to your individual customers—not a mass survey where you send a form to hundreds of companies.
• Analyze social media: Monitor social media platforms where your customers are active. Analyzing their posts, comments, and interactions can provide valuable information about their interests, opinions, and behaviors. This is an easy way to follow their company.
• Utilize customer feedback: Actively seek and analyze feedback from your customers. Whether it's through customer support interactions, reviews, or feedback forms, pay attention to what your customers are saying about your products or services.
• Leverage analytics tools: Use analytics tools to track customer behavior on your website or app. Analyzing metrics such as page views, click-through rates, and conversion rates can provide insights into customer preferences and actions. This is extremely valuable. I know companies using these tools to set up an active lead generative process. Monitoring who visits your website and how long they look at specific pages is a great way to see who they are and what they are interested in, so you can enter them into the sales funnel.
• Segment your audience: Divide your customers into different segments based on demographics, psychographics, or purchase behavior. This allows you to tailor your marketing efforts and product offerings to specific customer groups. This is especially important when selling specific technologies and products, as well as market segments. In our electronics business, for example, selling to the defense aerospace department is very different from selling to the computer or medical markets, and the need to develop customized sales and marketing plans for each segment is critical.
• Monitor competitors: Keep an eye on your competitors and their interactions with customers. Analyze their marketing strategies, customer reviews, and social media presence to identify trends and opportunities in the market. Check out what they are doing. You can also figure out what works for them and what does not. “Great artists steal,” said Steve Jobs (who stole that line from Picasso).
• Attend industry events: Participate in industry events, conferences, and trade shows where your target customers are likely to be present. Networking with attendees and engaging in discussions can provide valuable insights into industry trends and customer preferences. Many of these events will have companies presenting white papers that will be open to all event attendees for free. This is a great way to find out about your potential customers and competitors, and what is going on in your industry.
• Create buyer personas: Develop detailed buyer personas that represent your ideal customers. Use market research, customer data, and insights gathered from the above methods to create personas that help you better understand and target your audience. I love this. Make your customer real. Make your buyer a real person with likes, dislikes, and preferences.
• Create an ideal customer: This is always my personal favorite. Create a profile of your ideal target customer based on your current list of customers. From this profile, create a filter for finding the right customers in directories and on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

By employing these tips, you can gather comprehensive information about your customers and use it to improve your products, services, and marketing strategies. Remember that understanding your customers is an ongoing process, so continue to gather feedback and adapt your approach accordingly. This will also be time well spent, and the best part right now is that not many of your competitors are taking the time and exerting the effort to do these things, thus giving you a distinct advantage.

It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.