If you run a business, you might think the most important person in that business is the owner. The person highest up the managerial chain is always the one you want to try and keep happy. In fact, the most important people to keep happy are your customers. Here are some of the ways you can try and understand exactly what your customer wants.
Qualitative Research
One of the most effective forms of research you can conduct is qualitative research. If you’re unsure what this term means, it’s the phrase used to describe any research that is obtained by speaking to the customer directly rather than analyzing other data that may be produced by the business. This could include anything from interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, or even observing customers going about their day-to-day life. This form of research is the most effective as it is better at analyzing the thoughts and feelings of a customer. For example, many medical companies use this Qualitative market research to help better understand what their customers want from a new treatment. Whilst high numbers of people might be choosing that treatment; it doesn’t naturally mean that they’re completely happy with that product. By speaking to them directly, you might be able to gain a better understanding of any features they don’t like about the treatment and any other symptoms they feel the treatment doesn’t do enough to reduce.
Look at the sales data
Of course, one of the most immediate ways you can tell what your customer is thinking is by looking at the sales data. If you change an ingredient in your recipe, material in your product, or even the quantity of the product supplied in a packet, you could notice a large change in your sales. This is because even though your expert team of chefs may think a recipe is “new and improved”, there’s no guarantee that the majority of your customers will think the same. That’s why it’s important to recognize any impact these changes have as quickly as possible and admit that any big changes you’ve made were wrong, no matter how much time and effort you’ve put into making them.
Hold a vote
One of the simplest ways of deciding how popular a business choice may be is to hold a vote. For example, the popular crisp manufacturer Walkers often release a number of new, limited-edition recipes and holds a vote alongside this new product range launch to find out which new product is the most popular. Once the votes have been cast, the manufacturer then promises to make the winning flavor a more permanent product. Not only is this a great way of finding out which product is the most popular, it’s also a great marketing tool as well. If you make the new product launch look like a competition, people will naturally want to take the side of their favorite and start talking about it completely with their friends, family, and even on their social media profiles.
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