Knowing Your Customer Is The Key

Without doubt, understanding what a customer's wants and needs are is one of the most important aspects of running a business. You must know your customer. For the most part your customer will buy on emotion, especially for products or services that are not a necessity and where there are a number of suppliers for the same item. Understanding and defining why your customer shops the way they do is your key to success.

There may be a number of factors that are common amongst your target audience for your business service or product. By researching and finding out what these are, you will be able to see what areas you can focus on where there is a need, and what areas will not interest them. Write down what your ideal customer will looks like, behaves like and wants from you. Seeing your business through their eyes will help to highlight your strengths and any weaknesses you might have.

Where can I find information about my customer?

There are a number of resources that you can access at LITTLE OR NO COST to you, that can help provide accurate impressions on your customer and their buying habits. Also, these resources will help you define and research potential markets that you had not yet considered for your business.

Firstly, research and access all the SECONDARY data that you can. Secondary data is data that has been gathered by someone else for a different and specific purpose. Often, this data contains information that you can utilize and apply to your own needs. For example, the research may relate to how people spend their money in the home, and you may want to know what people and how much they spend on tools for the shed. This secondary data could well provide the information on the amount they will spend, where they will shop and why, and what type of customer will do the shopping.

Places and Sites that you can visit to begin gathering secondary data:

* Ibis World (http://www.ibisworld.com/) - The IBISWorld US Industry Reports provide you with immediate access to vital information on 100's of industries. They are continually adding more industries to eventually cover the entire economy in depth.

* LibrarySpot.com (http://www.libraryspot.com/) - a free virtual library resource center for educators and students, librarians and their patrons, families, businesses and just about anyone exploring the Web for valuable research information.

* Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/) - The Internet Public Library (IPL), is a public service organization and learning/teaching environment full of information and resources to help educate you.

* US Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/) - The Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy, providing the best mix of timeliness, relevancy, quality, and cost for the data they collect and services they provide.

Having gathered any secondary data available, you might find that you still need some information relating to your customer and niche market. The best way to do this is to gather what is called PRIMARY data ? information that you gather for your own purposes. There are a number of ways that you can do this. For example, you might choose to call people out of the phone book and ask them to complete a survey over the phone. You also might choose to go to the local shopping complex and interview people you meet. This second idea is very useful if your product is something that is already sold through retail outlets, as you can talk direct to customers that could become your customer in the future!

If you have never written a survey before, visit the site below as a great starting point:

* How to Write a Good Survey http://www.accesscable.net/~infopoll/tips.htm - this site has a description of each step in writing a survey, and some useful links and further articles about the gathering of information by using surveys.

Don't be afraid of gathering your own information - it can prove to be an invaluable exercise. Not only do you gain a more complete understanding of the needs of your customer, but you increase your own knowledge and understanding of the marketplace. This places you in a better situation when building and expanding your business.

Matthew Tibble operates http://www.BusinessPlanningMadeEasy.com, a site dedicated to business owners to help them achieve their business goals. A combination of sales and marketing experience over the past 9 years & a strong passion to help small businesses improve their success has led to the development of business and marketing planning services. Please visit http://www.businessplanningmadeeasy.com or email info@businessplanningmadeeasy.com.

---

Who Is Your Market and Where Are They?

An important part of planning your business is to know... Read More

Notable News - Its Not About You!

You enjoy what you do. In fact, you love your... Read More

Getting Into Marketing Momentum ... The Accelerated Way

GETTING INTO MARKETING MOMENTUM: The 5 Power Principles for Getting... Read More

Direct Mail Formats: How to Choose the Right One for Your Next Mailing

Which pulls the best response, a postcard, a self-mailer or... Read More

Website Marketing: 10 Uncommon Bonuses That Will Help Make Your Product Hotly In Demand

Giving away free bonuses is an important website marketing secret... Read More

8 BIG Benefits To Selling Big Ticket Items

Ok, before we get down to the benefits of... Read More

Why Instant Gratification Marketing Condemns Businesses To Losing 90% Of Their Potential Customers

Most businesses target only people "ready-to-buy". These hot prospects are... Read More

Promotional Products

As a promotions director for a lot of super markets,... Read More

Leverage The Power Of Using Flyers To Advertise Your Online Product or Service Offline

One commonly overlooked method of advertising offline is flyers. Flyers... Read More

How to Put the Profit Producing Power of Couponing to Work for You

Coupons have proven themselves to be highly effective sales tools... Read More

Off The Shelf Software for Making Business Lists

Available to all small businesses are business lists, which come... Read More

Effective Tips For Telemarketers

I had a telemarketer call me recently. Here's a rough... Read More

How to Leverage Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool

Second in a series of three articles:What if you could... Read More

11 Ways to Turnaround a Cash-Strapped Business or Practice

This past weekend I received a disturbing message from a... Read More

The Magic of Using Booklets for Tradeshow Giveaways

Candy, squeeze balls, pens, and key chains -- these provide... Read More

Free or Not Free ? That is the Question

You may be in business for yourself or as a... Read More

Lead Generation: What Is It worth?

Our business environment has changed dramatically. Companies must now be... Read More

2 Step Marketing

Do it Right.I receive postcards all the time. The other... Read More

Take a Leap! How To Take Your Business To New Heights

Take a moment to reflect on the current reality of... Read More

15 Commandments Of Creating A Wealth Pulling Niche

Niches are like bathrooms; you never notice them until you... Read More

15-Minute Marketing: Lots of Results in Little Time

Do you think you don't have enough time to market?... Read More

Image is Key to Your Marketing Success

In virtually any business first impressions are lasting impressions. Most... Read More

7 Simple Marketing Tips

Here are 7 simple marketing tips to help you boost... Read More

4 Steps to Successful Offline Drawings

There are many different ways to market offline, each important... Read More

Direct Mail Response Rates Soar With Dimensional Mailers in Business-to-Business Lead Generation

The toughest job you face as a B2B direct marketer... Read More

Meaning and Marketing - The Trigger

In previous articles under "Meaning and Marketing", we have learned... Read More

Marketing Brain Trust

Rest assured that no matter how smart you are, you... Read More

Creating Assets: Spark Your Thinking With These 16 Comprehensive Questions

Here are some questions to get your thoughts and cash... Read More

Grow Your Business By Getting Your Customers Buying From You More Often - 35 Ideas

35 Ideas to Spark Your Creativity:There are 3 ways to... Read More

How to Measure the Benefit Your Product or Service Offers

Measuring the benefit of your product or service means putting... Read More

5 Tips for Getting the Most out of Exhibiting at Trade Shows

Exhibiting at trade shows can be a cost-effective way to... Read More

Your Plan For Marketing Success

The most important, yet overlooked aspect of marketing is an... Read More

Words that Sell

We all know the English language contains hundreds of thousands... Read More