Getting to know your customers

The answer to this weeks topic is pretty much summed up in the title. But how much do you really know about your customers.

You know they buy your products but is that because you have a monopoly or are you doing something your customers really like. If you haven't done true indepth research before you may be surprised at the findings and in some cases a little worried.

Let's start with talking about bank customers. It is common knowledge and there is lots of statistical information that customers are not too satisfied with their bank, so why don't they change to another bank. It's simple, people think it's both too difficult and they don't really know whether the competition will be any better.

Let is now apply the bank analogy to your company, do you think your customers have the same view of you as they do with their bank. If the answer is a 'could be' or 'probably' then you really need to do something about it and do it quick.

There is a saying in business, it is much easier to keep your existing customers happy than get new ones if your existing customers leave. It's common sense, you have done all the hard work, building the trust, expending oodles in advertising and you have a customer base. You will have found that, of all the potential customers, only a small proportion decided your company was right for them. So, lose one customer and you need to put in much more effort to replace them.

Im not going to cover off in this weeks blog how you can keep your customers happy and loyal to you, i will leave that for another time. I will ask that you go and find out what your customers really think of you and your company. Believe me, even that small task of contacting them and asking them is a small step in the right direction.