When it comes to business, keeping your customers happy is not negotiable. If you want to stay competitive, experience dictates that you should step into your customers’ minds and behaviors to understand what they truly want. Once you know your customer needs, you can efficiently enhance the customer journey, thus increasing your chances of enjoying business success.
However, in this modern age of setting trends, most businesses are focused on beating the competition by aligning with trends. But, the real secret weapon to enjoying business success is focusing on your customers.
Importance of User Research
Whether you’re new to business or a seasoned entrepreneur, understanding customer needs should be among the first lines of action. But what do we mean by ‘customer needs?’ Well, it entails looking at the reasons and motivations a customer chooses to purchase from a business.
Customer needs are largely influenced by the type of customer. It could be a new client, an impulse buyer, or a loyal customer who not only buys from you from time to time but also highly insists on their friends doing business with you. As a matter of fact, research shows that 20% of your clients are responsible for 80% of your business revenue.
Understanding these different customer types and their needs is crucial to developing targeted strategies that resonate with each group. That’s why user research is important, going beyond the basic data collection exercise. Efficient user research enables businesses to identify patterns in behavior, preferences, and pain points. As such, they can tailor products, services, and marketing messages based on that information.
Basic Types of Customer Needs
By now, you should know that customers don’t just purchase products or services. Instead, it’s a need they are catering to. Here are five common customer needs you’ll likely come across in your business journey:
1. Fair Price
Over 60% of customers view pricing as their primary consideration when making purchases. Despite the benefits of a product/service, pricing it way higher than your competitors will send your clients away. But if you have a reputation for having reasonable pricing, your customers will keep coming back, gradually growing your business.
2. Good Product/Service
Another vital customer consideration when making purchases is delivering high-quality products and services. Consistently delivering high-quality results in referrals and optimum customer satisfaction. However, when we talk about quality, we are not only talking about the product or service. We mean timely delivery, professional service, promise-keeping, and continuous value creation. Achieve all these, and you’ll likely hit a home run in your business.
3. Risk Reduction
In this modern age of cyber threats looming at every corner, no one wants to risk the security of their payments. Businesses across the world, including the UK, are now deeply concerned about securing their customer transactions and implementing transparent policies.
Consider online gaming options like casinos in the UK, for example. Sure, offering secure customer transactions is paramount. However, such security measures also ensure that UK casino sites are safe from legal liabilities as well as security threats. That way, online casino enthusiasts enjoy their favorite titles while being confident that their deposit/payout transactions are 100% safe.
Identifying Customer Needs
If you want to position your business for success, you must understand what your customers value most. Research shows that companies with a customer-centered approach are 60% more profitable than those that are not.
Understanding customer needs is about more than providing value to the client; it also benefits the business. Whether you need to issue surveys and questionnaires, answer questions on social media, or provide a customer feedback program, you must establish a customer feedback loop.
That way, you’ll stay in the know when it comes to what your customers need. Similarly, such feedback loops will also keep you up-to-date with current customer personas. So, don’t be afraid to invest in learning about your customers. In fact, many experts believe you should understand your customers before investing in technology.
