This is part of a series of posts on what you can do to be more successful in your business this year. To get a free report full of success tips for your business, sign up below this article.
If you are looking for success in your business, you may need look no farther than your customers. Customers are a wealth of information that, if properly tapped, can help you mold and shape your business into a success machine. Not paying attention to your customers can have dire results.
Listen to what Ross Felix of Dating Revolution, Inc. had to say about the importance of customers for his business.
It sounds elementary, but my startup wouldn’t be in business if my competition truly listened to its users. There are so many flaws in the online dating market, flaws that we confirmed by interviewing hundreds of daters. Don’t “think” you know what your customers want, go out and ASK them. Thanks to our customers and future customers, we’ve now found a way to democratize online dating and create a site that reduces or eliminates their pain points.
Listening to customers and the wider market can help you position your business for success and really outshine your competitors. But listening isn’t always easy. Too often, small business owners are too busy looking at the trees of their business to ever get an understanding of the forest of their customers. In other words, you get so focused on the details of your business that you miss what is going on in the world of your customers.
Andy Hayes, of Travel Online Partners, says it like this.
Get some customer feedback. If you’re already asking for feedback, then ask something different. You’re too close to your website, to your brochure, to your products and services. You can’t see the little things that are wrong or missing but are causing problems. Get the feedback and do something about it. Your customers will thank you with more business.
Understanding what customers needs are, and what drives them to buy, is essential. This understanding comes best through constant interaction. The good news is that interaction is a little easier today, with more and more people willingly interacting online.
There are all kinds of ways to engage your customer. Susan Jacobsen, of LUV2XLPR, Inc., suggests using tools like Twitter and LinkedIn to pay attention to customers and to react to both positive and negative feedback. She says to look at customers who are using these tools as advocates for your business.
Companies are surrounded by advocates and it’s up to them to listen to what’s being said on blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Testimonials used to be touted via quotes on a static website; now advocates proclaim their praise to thousands. These advocates can propel companies ahead, and small businesses need to acknowledge their influence. The right comment on the right blog or via Twitter can have a bigger impact on the bottom-line than an uninteresting quote in some regional newspaper left on a doorstep.
If you aren’t plugged in to the online universe, you will be missing more and more opportunities to move your business ahead by listening to what customers are saying. The more you fine tune your business to their needs, the more likely they will become advocates for your brand. Whether they talk about your business in a Facebook status update, or on a personal blog, these comments can have a very positive effect on your business. By listening first to needs, then adapting your business, you will find yourself listening more and more to positive feedback, which will help propel your business forward.
Social media is not the only tool to use for listening. Dr. Marlene Caroselli suggests using focus groups, surveys, and on-site evaluations to get a better idea of customer needs. While this may sound big business, it is not. It is easy to set up a focus group of your customers, for instance. Just invite a group out for coffee and dessert. Going to your customer’s place of business to see how they are implementing your product is also a great idea. If you are working with consumers, this may be more difficult. Use friends as case studies instead, or do an interview with a willing customer where you talk about their use of your product.
Sometimes, you don’t need to do anything to hear from your customers. Sometimes, they complain openly to you. Use customer complaints as an opportunity to improve your business and strengthen your customer relationships. When a customer complains, you know there is a disconnect somewhere between your offering and their need. So listen up. Then, when appropriate, adapt. Katharine Coles, of Mad Marketeer, gives this advice.
Listen to your clients. If they complain that they don’t like something about your product or service, try to find ways to change to meet their needs. If they don’t like your customer service or they think you are not listening or being responsive enough, try to put new systems in place to address the issues. If they don’t understand your documentation or your contracts, make them clearer and easier to understand. One of the biggest mistakes that small businesses make is NOT LISTENING.
If you learn how to listen, you will learn what you need to do to make your business better. Customers are your lifeblood. If you make moves that alienate them, you are pushing your business in the wrong directions. If, on the other hand, you are constantly concerned with what they want and make sound business moves to provide for that want, you are on your way to a more successful business.
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Bradford Shimp designs and implements WordPress web sites and blogs for small business. If you need a cost-effective web site with control over content, learn more at BroadRiverCreative.com.
