Businesses don’t just thrive on transactions, but on relationships and communities. Gone are the days when you just allow customers come around, purchase something, and just go like that.
No matter how small your business is, you want to keep track of the people coming in. You want to get as much information as possible from them and about them. Be sensitive to how they come, the choices they often make, their taste, their personality, who/what they buy for, etc. You want to make them feel like they matter to you.
Do you know why? Here is it – customers don’t spread your name; only fans do. And who are the fans? Those who feel they have a stake in your success. Those who feel they are worth more to you than your bottomline.
So, how do you make them feel this way?
You need their data to execute this!
You need to find out as much as possible about them – who they are, where they work, their age bracket, relationship status, whether they have children or not, their income level, their lifestyle, taste and personalities, etc.
You see, each of these data example I shared have THREE VITAL USE IN BUSINESS:
– They have a way of affecting the buying behaviour and decisions of customers.
– They also help you to understand the easy triggers to employ when marketing to them.
– Lastly, they help you in your attempt to create personalised experiences for each customer or customer group.
For instance, when it’s January, most middle-class income parents are obviously thinking about school fees and how to cater for their children’s academic needs.
Understanding this will help you to communicate value to this category of customers. Of course, that may not be the time you want to market your new shoe & bag arrivals to them. But there may be other useful information (maybe other products and personalised offers) you could share with them that would warm their hearts and make them see you as a business who truly cares.
Guess what? By the time the pressure is off these people and they are now more relaxed to start buying things for themselves, you will be the first to come to their mind.
So, you see why information is important? You can never be the best fit for a customer you know nothing about. Always remember this!
Of course, don’t forget that I remain your clarity coach and your clarity remains my priority.
