The way we see it, customers are the driving force behind every business, organization, and institution that exists. The harsh truth? If a company fails to understand its customers and what they truly want, then its chances of long-term survival are slim at best.
Who are your customers, really? And how do you find out more about them? In this article, we walk you through 6 tips that will allow you to dig deep and get to know your customers on a whole new level.
1. Survey your customers
First things first — start out by surveying your customers, so as to understand their perception of your company. Some questions that you might ask your customers include:
- How did you come to know of {CompanyName}?
- Why do you choose to purchase from / work with {CompanyName}?
- What is your favorite thing about {CompanyName}?
- What is your least favorite thing about {CompanyName}?
- What areas do you think {CompanyName} can improve on?
Here’s an advanced tip — when using an online survey tool, try to phrase your questions as neutrally as possible instead of crafting your survey with leading questions.
Positive example: How would you describe CompanyName’s customer service?
Negative example: Do you think that CompanyName provides good customer service?
Psst: Try Sogolytics’s online form builder, which allows you to create customized forms quickly and easily.
2. Mingle with your customers at events and functions
Surveys aside, consider organizing events and functions that will allow you to meet and mingle with your customers.
You can do this any way you’d like, but we recommend reaching out to your loyal customers (members of your VIP club or loyalty program, for instance) with a fun event. This could be an anniversary party, a launch event, or anything along those lines.
Obviously, speaking with your customers in real life (as opposed to surveying them online!) will give you a lot more insights about who they are individually and what they value. Because you’re specifically engaging with your loyal customers, you can also use this opportunity to discover what it is about your company that’s won them over.
3. Interview your customers one-on-one
You’ve already met and spoken to your loyal customers. Now, go one step further and schedule one-on-one interviews with your most important customers so you can pick their brains.
Who should you interview? If you have any customers who enthusiastically recommend your company to their friends and family, or consistently post about your brand on social media, these folks will make good candidates.
Again, you want to figure out what it is that makes these customers such strong advocates of your brand. Once you find out the factors at play here (great customer support, highly targeted messaging, or even brand authenticity), you’ll want to replicate this so that all your customers receive the same amazing experience, across the board.
Pro-tip: Be flexible when it comes to timing/location in order to increase the chances of your customers agreeing to an interview. You might also want to incentivize your customers with a small token, such as a gift voucher or a coupon code for a discount on your product/service.
4. Re-read old reviews, feedback and testimonials
To get even more insights about your customers, go back and re-read your old reviews, feedback, and testimonials.
Here’s the thing: People don’t typically bother to write to a company unless they’ve had a particularly good OR bad experience. Bearing this in mind, looking through your feedback will give you a good idea of your company’s strengths and weaknesses, and what your customers expect from your company.
5. Analyze website data
There’s a goldmine of data within Google Analytics and Google Search Console — and trawling through this data can help you understand your customers better.
Here’s an example: Say you run an SaaS company, and you realize that your customers view your Pricing page just 2 times (on average!) before purchasing a subscription to your tool. Now, this might indicate that your pricing is highly reasonable relative to what your customers are willing to pay, which in turn shows that your customers have more purchasing power than you think.
Now that you have this information, you can use this to shape and guide your higher-level business strategy. For instance, you might decide to increase your prices, or to create a premium product line to cater to your customers.
6. Uncover insights on social media
In this day and age, pretty much every company has a Facebook page.
What not everyone realizes, though, is that these Facebook pages contain a treasure trove of information. Instead of simply using your Facebook page to post updates about your company, you should also be utilizing this information to learn more about your customers.
To access this information, navigate to your company’s Facebook page, and head to the Page Insights section of your dashboard. Here, you’ll be able to see:
- The gender, age, location and language of fans who Like your page
- Who has engaged with your posts or Page in the past 28 days
- The timings when your fans are online
- The success of different post types (based on reach and engagement)
And plenty more. This allows you to gauge what type of people your business appeals to, and what type of content your customers like to consume. With this information on hand, you can better tailor the messaging and offers in your email newsletters, blog articles, and other content, and have your content resonate better with your customers!
A final word on getting to know your customers
Regardless of what industry you’re in, your goal is to reach out to the right customers in the right way. In order to do this, you’ll have to invest the time and energy into getting to know your customers — simple as that.
Remember: the better you understand your customers, the more effectively you can market your products and services to them. If you haven’t already done so, come up with an action plan that will help you get to know your customers!
