One of the best sources of wisdom about your products, service, and industry is your customers. And no better way to find out what they think than to talk with them.
That’s right. Pick up the phone and give them a call. Not to discount all the great interactive technologies like review sites, online surveys, and the range of social platforms, but some well-placed one-on-one conversations can give you an important and candid perspective on the way you are delivering your services and where you are succeeding and failing.
If you run your business on a skeleton crew you probably don’t have a lot of time for individualized market research, but a few hours could be time well spent. I would seek out customers who only used your service once and did not return or customers who have been absent for a while. You might also have certain key customers who you know are intelligent consumers and could have some great insights for you. Many people will be happy to share their thoughts when they see that you genuinely care what they think. You might learn some helpful information from them and you just might win back a customer.
Find out what what they are looking for in an Ecommerce site (if they have decided to go elsewhere) and what are the key factors in their online purchasing decisions. Maybe you can find out about some key product lines they are interested in. Of course you could ask the same questions via an email survey, but spending some time with the group that is least likely to take the time to answer an survey can be quite educational.
Hopefully the information you learn will be something you can take action on to improve your presentation and offerings, and it might inspire you to come up with creative ways of communicating with your customer base on a broader scale.
The message in this Saturday evening fortune cookie is: reach out and connect with your customers on a personal level – good things will come.
