Understanding Your Customers

How can you better understand your customers to increase sales? All too often, entrepreneurs hesitate to make the initial contact. They may fear saying the wrong thing or making a bad first impression.

There is an easier way to open the dialogue with a customer without selling. Surveys are a great way to begin the sales process. Surveys allow you to ask questions and understand the customer instead of selling something without understanding your customer.

Survey Methods

There are three different ways to conduct a survey:

Phone interview
In-person interview
Questionnaire survey

Questioning Tools

Regardless of the delivery method of the survey, there are three necessary questioning tools: survey protocol, list of respondents, and customer database.

Survey Protocol

The survey protocol involves outlining the questions for the survey. The entrepreneur may ask about customer needs such as their problems or challenges or about their purchasing process on how and when the customer shop.

Questions about the customer: What is the customer’s situation? What are their skills? What is their typical consumption?
Questions about the customer’s needs: What challenges does the customer face? What problems are they looking to solve? What are their goals?
Questions about the customer’s point of view: What are the customer’s preferences? What are their priorities? What is their budget?
Questions about the customer’s decision-making & purchase process: Who is the decision maker that decides on a purchase? What information is needed to make the decision? Who should you present to or follow up with?

List of Respondents

Create a list of individuals or businesses who will be interviewed or will receive a questionnaire. The most important thing is to make sure the list is the right length and includes the right contacts. You need a long enough list to get sufficient response to develop insights into the market. You also need the list to include the right type of contacts who would be customers.

Customer Database

The customer database includes the list of respondents as well as all the information you collect from your respondents.

Following Up on the Survey

After you conduct a survey and gather your customer insights, you can follow up with those who responded and indicated they were interested in your product or services. Instead of speaking with a stranger, you are now contacting a potential customer who already knows you. It makes it easier to start the sales process and tailor it to that specific customer.

Focus on Market Rather Sale

The purpose of the survey is to identify a customer’s needs and provide a solution. It is not about pushing your product. This is the fundamental difference between just selling and marketing. The best entrepreneurs are those who understand their customers. These entrepreneurs are able to customize their products, services, and communication to their customers. If you understand your customer, the customer will understand your business.

Getting Started with GrowthWheel

If you need help preparing, the first step is connecting with a GrowthWheel Advisor. Mark Johnson, the Executive Director of the Technology Innovation Center, is a Certified GrowthWheel® Business Advisor.

Once you have connected with an advisor, he/she will send you a 360 screening. After completing the screening, your GrowthWheel Advisor will recommend decision sheets to help guide decision making and create a 30-60-90 action plan that outlines the decisions and timeline.

Send us a message today to get started!