Getting to know your customers better

There are various reasons as to why companies are started. However, I am sure everyone can agree on the fact that they want their company to be successful and profitable. However, in order to be truly successful, you need to sell a product or provide a service that is sought after – something that customers either want or need. Now the question we need to ask is – how do we, as business owners, know what people are interested in?

The answer is quite simple. Engaging with your customers. It is VITAL to know your customers. The better you know your customers, the easier it becomes to predict their behavior, to communicate effectively with them, and to anticipate their needs. Simply selling products or services is not enough to attract and retain loyal customers. If you want to truly connect with your audience and build lasting business relationships, you’ll have to make an ongoing effort. Knowing your customers better than they do is key.

Have a look at various techniques below in order to understand and get to know your customers better:

Interact with customers in person:
People act differently in real life than they do online, meeting in person also fosters more trust, community and loyalty than an online approach. While in-person communication might seem too time-consuming, you might be surprised by the information you glean from simple conversations.

Be yourself:
Being yourself also means being able to relate to customers (and people in general) on a level outside of pure business. Casual chatting allows for a comfortable environment, lacking in pretenses or defenses. Investing time into a genuine relationship provides the opportunity for more doors to be opened and for trust and loyalty to be strengthened.

Involve your customers:
This is one of the best methods that business enterprises can employ to get to know their customers better. Asking questions will provide insights into what the customers really need and helps companies to serve them better. Actively involving your customers in order to get their opinion before making certain decisions also helps you stand out from the competition.

Monitor Social Media:
While participating in social media can help you reach customers, monitoring your customers’ activity will help you learn more about them – delivering amazing information on how existing and prospective customers are interacting with your brand. Customers usually have various complaints regarding a product or service and by resolving them through social media, allowing business enterprises to learn a great deal about their customer’s likes and dislikes.

Listen to your customers:
No one can tell you how to get to know a customer better… than an actual customer. Therefore, if they talk about brands, their preferences, wants, needs – take note. Honest reviews and customer comments on various available platforms can be instrumental for the companies to get to know their customers better. Practicing active social listening on social media platforms is key to gaining further insights as to customer engagement.

Talk to your employees:
One of the best ways to get to know your customers is by gathering data from those who deal with customer experience on a daily basis — your trusted employees. They deal with your clients on a daily basis, gathering information such as questions, issues, preferences and much more. People are much more likely to share needs, requests and challenges with someone in person that they can physically talk to, as it makes them feel more valued.

Make use of Customer Analytics:
From clicking on a link to reading through a web page, every action offers valuable insight into customer behavior. From behavioral data, you gain insight into what they don’t understand, don’t like and do prefer. To determine how customers interact with your website, you can try a user behavior tracking tool like Google Analytics – a great tool for gathering insights such as time on page and bounce rate. This can help you create a stronger website presence and provide a more user friendly experience.

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