Tuesday 13 April 2010

What do your customers need & want?

Knowing your customers’ needs, wants and preferences is vitally important in today’s world. Of course, it has always been important, it’s just that software now enables us to do so much more. Which of course means that if we don’t understand our customers’ needs and wants, someone else will make the effort to understand them.

Which kinda puts the pressure on to start figuring it out.

We all like to think we know our customers well. But the truth is there are some things about them we know very well, and other things we are blissfully unaware of. Yet most customers are more than happy to provide all the clues you need to understand them. After all – they buy from you – that’s a pretty strong clue as to what they need and want.

When you start to have a look at the data you have about your customers there is a surprising amount of it:
  • Who they are and where they are located
  • Which promotion they responded to when they initially bought from you
  • Who in the company made the purchasing decision
  • Who influenced the purchasing decision
  • Who in your company dealt with the customer initially
  • Who in your company deals with the customer day by day
  • Who you normally deal with, day by day
  • Products or services they have bought from you
  • Time taken to make the purchasing decision
  • The cost of producing the products or services they buy
  • How long they take to pay
  • Goods or services they have returned or complained about
  • What they buy from others
  • What promotions they have responded to by buying or enquiring
  • What promotions they have not responded to
Of course every company is different, and that list will be much longer when you start thinking about the various systems you store customer information in.

So the key is to bring all this information together, so you can analyse it and start to better understand your customers’ needs and wants. Business intelligence software, such as Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services enables you to do just that. What once could only be looked at in its own separate system can now be brought together with data from other systems.

It’s powerful and enlightening - and you get increased loyalty from your customers because you can provide a better product or service. It's an exciting time to be in business!

20 comments:

  1. What I always want to know about a customer is whether or not they can make up their minds.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nyallpurposepaving.com offers Paving Contractor, Parking Lot Repairs, sealing, striping, Oil and Stone Driveways at Riverhead NY, Quogue NY, Hamptons NY, Southampton NY, Sag Harbor NY, Green point NY, Wading River NY, East Moriches NY, Center Moriches NY, Mannorville NY, Miller Place NY , Mt. Sinai NY,Greenport NY

    ReplyDelete
  3. Diskdatadestruction.net offers hard drive destruction, Paper shredding at Hauppauge NY, Suffolk County NY, Long Island NY, Ronkonkoma NY, Melville NY, Huntington NY, Garden City NY, Farmingdale NY, Westbury NY, Bohemia NY, Stony Brook NY,
    and Nassau County N

    ReplyDelete
  4. geffnerkersch.com Divorce Attorney Nassau County NY, Prenuptial Agreements Nassau County NY. Call us now: (516) 268-9898

    ReplyDelete
  5. Atopcommercialpaving.com offers Commercial Paving, Asphalt Contractor, and Parking Lot Resurfacing at Queens NY, Nassau County, Bayside NY, Jamaica NY, Middle Village NY, Ozone Park NY, Howard Beach NY, Little Neck NY

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jettonsgrading.com offers Grading, Excavation and Paving Contractor, Land Clearing Services, Septic Systems, Retaining Walls and Driveways, Drainage Systems, Construction Site Clean-Up, Demolition Contractor at Walhalla SC, Seneca SC

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bedbugprocpc.com offers Bed Bug Exterminator, Bed Bug Inspections, Bed Bug Elimination, Bed Bug Inspection for Hotels and Residential and Commercial Bed Bug at Palo Alto CA, San Mateo CA, San Jose CA, Belmont CA, San francisco CA, Redwood City CA, Sunnyvale CA

    ReplyDelete
  8. Landscape , Outdoor, Landscape Lighting Installation, Lawn Sprinkler Design, Repairs, Installation, Lawn Irrigation Service, Sprinkler System Backflow Testing at Long Island, Nassau County, Suffolk County, Dix Hills NY, Huntington NY, Syosset NY, Smithtown NY and Happauge NY

    ReplyDelete
  9. reliablecommercialpaving.com offers Parking lot paving, walkway construction, Commercial paving, asphalt, Parking Lot Repairs, Parking Lot Striping, Commercial Blacktop, Parking Lot Repairs, Commercial Paving Contractor, Commercial Asphalt Contractor at New Jersey at Hanover NJ, East Orange NJ, Newark NJ, Morristown NJ, Summit NJ , Union NJ, Hackensack NJ, Patterson NJ

    ReplyDelete
  10. Davispestmanagement.com offers Pest Control, Exterminator, Bed Bug Removal, Inspections, Rodent, Pest Elimination, Commercial, Residential, Professional, Licensed Exterminator , Scorpion, Bee Hive, Hornet, Fire Ant Removal by Service Area, Las Vegas NV

    ReplyDelete
  11. Complete-pest-control.com offers Pest Control, Exterminator, Rodent Control, Rodent Elimination, and Pest Elimination at Palo Alto CA, San Mateo CA, San Francisco CA, Redwood City CA, Sunnyvale CA, and Belmont CA

    ReplyDelete
  12. Realestatebydavidschoelles.com offers David Schoelles Real Estate, Cash for Homes at Arizona, Scottsdale AZ, and Phoenix AZ

    ReplyDelete
  13. johnniescarwashonoak.com offer Best Car Wash on Long Island, Detailing Centre, Car Detailing, Brushless Car Wash, Full-Service Car Wash, Car Detailing, SUV Detailing, Best Car Wash, Auto Detailing, SUV Detailing, Lease Return Detailing at Copiague NY, Lindenhurst NY, Amityville NY

    ReplyDelete
  14. David Schoeless Plumbing, David Schoeless at AZ, Scottsdale AZ, Phoenix AZ

    ReplyDelete
  15. Carpet, upholstery cleaning, carpet stain, odor removal, carpet steam, ceramic tile, commercial carpet cleaning at mobile al

    ReplyDelete
  16. davidschoelles.net offersDavid Schoeless Plumbing, David Schoeless at AZ, Scottsdale AZ, Phoenix AZ

    ReplyDelete
  17. Kitchen cabinets and Custom kitchens, cabinet supplier, remodeling, Kitchen countertops

    ReplyDelete
  18. Kitchen cabinets and Kitchen cabinet supplier, remodeling, countertops, New Kitchen Cabinets, Wood Kitchen Cabinets

    ReplyDelete
  19. Viceroy Investigations and Consulting LLC is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the Massapequa's offer security consulting, assessments and training to large and small businesses. Let us help you design and implement policies that aid in Safe hiring, Work Place security and Information Security. Call us: 516-694-0093

    ReplyDelete
  20. norwalkfloorsanding.com offers Wood Floor refinishing, Installation, Oak Floor Refinishing, Staining, Flooring Contractor, Wood Floor Sanding, Residential Wood Flooring in Norwalk CT

    ReplyDelete