How Well Do You Know Your Customers?
Most small business owners think they know their customers. But if you start probing, you discover many are actually guessing or using anecdotal evidence that may or may not be accurate.
They might say, for example, "Most of my customers are not willing to pay extra for expedited delivery," and later learn that a competitor routinely collects a premium for that service. Quite often they’ll generalize without knowing if "most" refers to 51% or 99% of their customers or, more likely, some figure in between.
The way to address this dilemma is with market research that gets at the real issues. The study can be qualitative (such as focus groups or one-on-one interviews) or quantitative (such as an online survey). You could do the work yourself or hire an outside market research firm. You could also hire a market research expert to show you what needs to be done and how to do it, and then do it yourself.
The best approach depends on how much the answers are worth and how much time and expertise you already have.
The Po!nt: Understanding your customers through research can provide real bottom-line value to your company. It can be the most cost-effective way to help you make important business decisions.
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