What Do Customers Want? The Best Practices For Understanding Your Customers
Your business will only survive when you understand your customers. What do customers want is the question you must ask yourself.
Hi Trish Davies here and today I want to help you get into your customers mindset. To do that you must ask yourself the following question. What do customers want?
Customers expect a lot from businesses today. They want brands to listen, respond and be accessible on demand. In addition, customers want experiences that are customized and personal, not generic or automated.
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by the onslaught of expectations from your customers, you’re not alone. However fear not! There is good news!
By understanding what drives your customers’ behaviours and preferences, you can create experiences. Experiences that meet their needs better than anyone else.
What Do Customers Want?
Here are the best practices for understanding your customers that will give you the tools to drive customer-centricity in your organization.
Discover how to uncover insights about your customers so that you can design customer experiences they’ll love.
What Is Customer-Centricity?
Customer-centricity is the practice of putting your customers at the centre of everything you do. When your organization is truly customer-centric, you’ll have a better understanding of your customers’ wants and needs.
You’ll also have the ability to create experiences that meet their needs better than anyone else. A customer-centric business understands that the needs and expectations of their customers may change over time.
In order to meet those changing needs, customer-centric brands are agile enough to make adjustments to their products and services as needed.
Plan A Customer Discovery Workshop
A great way to kick-off your customer discovery research is with a customer discovery workshop. This is an event that brings together key stakeholders from across your organization to discuss customers and their experiences.
A customer discovery workshop can take place over one or two days. It’s a great way to get everyone in your organization involved in the customer research process.
It also offers a great opportunity to have a lot of fun! A customer discovery workshop is not a focus group or a usability test. At the end of the day, it’s not about your product.
It’s about your customers and the experiences they have. That’s the lens you should be looking through when you conduct the research for your discovery workshop.
Run User Research Interviews
Customers are more willing than ever to share their opinions and ideas about brands and their products. This creates a wide variety of online reviews, ratings and feedback that can help organizations better understand their customers.
However, it’s important to recognize that these online sources don’t always provide an accurate reflection of your customers. It’s easy for people to over-promise and then under-deliver on what they want.
Many people rely on the feedback they receive, but it’s important to understand its limitations. Conducting customer interviews can provide a more accurate picture of what your customers are really experiencing.
Understand Why Customers Behave The Way They Do
There are a number of tools and techniques you can use to understand why customers behave the way they do. Understanding customer pain points, motivations and desires can help you create meaningful customer experiences.
By looking at what your customers like and dislike, you can begin to understand their preferences. You can also gain insight into the reasons behind their preferences. This will help you predict what they may like in the future.
Leverage Existing Data To Understand Customers
If you don’t have the budget or the capacity to do a full-blown customer discovery workshop, don’t despair. There are a number of ways you can use existing data to understand your customers.
Analyse your customer retention data. If you have information about your customers’ experience with your brand, it can be helpful to review it for patterns that can help you understand your customers.
Analyse customer service data. Another great way to learn more about your customers is to analyse customer service data. Customer service is a critical component of the customer experience.
Find your customer communities. If you have an existing customer community or social media groups, take the time to understand what your customers are saying.
Conferences: A Great Way To Learn About Your Audience
Customers are always hosting conferences and events where they can share their ideas and experiences. If you want to learn more about your customers, you should attend these events.
It’s a great way to interact with your customers and get a better understanding of what they’re looking for in a brand experience. You can also learn a lot by listening to the questions that your fellow conference attendees are asking.
At these events, you can also meet industry experts and find mentors who can help guide you through the customer research process. At the end of the day, customer conferences are where you’ll find your target audience.
You’ll also get a chance to practice your presentation skills and share your ideas with people who are interested in what you have to say.
What Do Customers Want? – Conclusion
Customers are demanding more than ever before. They want brands to listen, respond and be accessible on demand. In addition, customers want experiences that are customized and personal, not generic or automated.
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by the onslaught of expectations from your customers, you’re not alone. However fear not! There is good news:
By understanding what drives your customers’ behaviours and preferences, you can create experiences that meet their needs better than anyone else.
Now that you understand what customers want, it’s time to get to work! Start with these best practices for understanding your customers and see how your brand can benefit.
For more information on understanding what your customers want check out my free training program called Build Your AU.
Register for the program here.
Helping you build your authenticity, authority and audience.
Trish Davies
Build Your AU
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