How many times have you laid out your marketing plan and focused your strategy on your competition? It’s time to stop the madness and refocus your efforts on YOUR customer! One must remember that competition is part of doing business, but the customer is the reason you are in business.
In order to refocus your efforts you must ask yourself –– “Who is MYcustomer?” This may seem like an obvious question, but one that can get lost in the chaos of competition. Here are three tips to help you answer this question.
1. Stop talking and listen to your customer. Most business owners DO have a concept of the their ideal customer, but they often spend little time actually listening to those customers. Money spent on “market research” and running demographic numbers does not even compare to the value one gets when they spend quality time listening (really listening) to the customer.
2. Ask your customer what they want. You may spend more time selling a service or a product that YOU love rather than speaking to your customers need. This is a problem. What you have to offer is only as valuable as the value it adds to satisfy the need for YOUR customer!
3. Ask your employees what they hear. Sometime you are insulated by your industry knowledge to what the customer wants. The best internal source for answers is to ask your employees, especially those on the front line to tell YOU what kind of questions the customer asks of them. Once you have this knowledge, take it in and begin to think like YOUR customer and adjust your marketing to fit their needs.
Rather than get frustrated trying to keep up with your competitor, now is the time to focus your marketing efforts on the person that needs you the most – YOUR customer!
