Know Who’s Buying: How to Get to Know Your Customers Better
Doesn’t it feel like the stars align in that perfect moment when you think about buying something, and later that afternoon you get an email with a coupon for that exact thing?? You’re so happy as a result, that you’ll definitely buy it, and sometimes even more!
Well, you’re not the only one, and it goes to show how special you feel and how important it is to you when the companies you buy from know what you like and what you need.
So, why wouldn’t you do the same for your own customers?
Especially with the packed eCommerce market, you want to make sure that customers have the best experience on your website, in your store, with your company members, and your products and services. In order to grow your business and retain customers, you need to know what customers want, know what buyers need, and how you can be the one to deliver it in the most seamless way. Making them happy is super important as well because over 60% of consumers admit that after just 1 negative experience, they will move on to a different brand.
How do you get to know your customers? Let’s check it out:
Why Know Your Customers?
Many entrepreneurs ask: Why get to know your customers if you have a good product that speaks for itself?
Unfortunately, that is marketing and thinking of the past, before competition online boomed and customers didn’t care too much about a personalized shopping experience and a relationship with the companies they buy from. Knowing your customers is important because now, customers can get a product from anywhere, but want to get it from a place they know values them. Almost three quarters of consumers even expect companies to uniquely know what buyers need, that if you don’t know what customers want, they will leave you behind.
To get to know your customers, you need to focus on these needs. Harvard Business School has put out a helpful breakdown of consumer needs:
- Functional Needs which address specific things that customers want to accomplish through a product or service.
- Social Needs which customers consider when buying products and services that indicate their social status.
- Emotional Needs which customers feel and value when they use a product or service.
To know what buyers need on all levels is the sure shot way to know what makes them happy and what you can do to maximize their experience and keep them returning.
Double Down on Customer Service
The most natural way to get to know your customers is to prioritize customer service. Give customers a lovely experience by interacting with, helping, and guiding them through your store.
In a physical store, that would look like happy, available attendants who can answer questions and engage with customers to know what customers want, but also handle any negative situations with grace. But don’t forget to give your online store the same attention, which is why you should carefully consider your website’s design to help guide customers through the store to the things they’re looking for seamlessly. A live chat or customer service number easily seen on the website can be helpful.
The best way to get to know your customers is to read your company or product reviews that are posted on all sites to see how customers truly feel. Responding to each one is a great way to engage with and show everyone that you care about their opinion and want to know what customers want.
Great customer service is the key to knowing your customers and growing your business since over 80% of consumers say great customer service is their most important consideration before making a purchase.
Personalize Shopping Experiences Around What Buyers Want
While you have many great products and services that can benefit consumers, and there is definitely room for some impulse buys towards the end of the shopping experience, the focus should be to know what buyers need and not bombard them with things they don’t. Personalize the shopping experience and show them that you care specifically about what they want.
Not only does it make them feel valued and will increase their loyalty to your company, more statistics are coming out proving that customers expect personalized interactions from companies and the majority feel unseen when it doesn’t happen. This is where the personal emails with the perfectly timed coupons and the analysis of their previous purchases benefit you more than you can imagine.
Once you get to know your customers and personalize shopping for them, they feel stronger in their loyalty with your company and will tell all their friends about the positive, attentive experience.
Get to Know Your Customers on Social Media
You’ve identified their needs and engaged with them in your stores, but the biggest trick to knowing your customers is having fun with them on social media! Get them interacting and even laughing through posts, videos, or blogs that show your customers who you are as a company and that you genuinely care about them.
To know what customers want, you need to know that they have incredibly high expectations of businesses these days. Almost 75% of consumers want companies they support to positively contribute to society and 64% want companies to connect directly with them. Getting positive user generated content directly from your customers through contests or promotions is a great way to show your products or services directly in use and loved by people.
There are, of course, things you can do proactively to boost engagement and get to know your customers. You can post short behind the scenes or getting to know employees videos on Tik Tok, Instagram, or Facebook. You can work with specific social media influencers who reach your specific demographic, know what customers want, and know how to put your company on their radar.
Use A Loyalty Program to Know What Customers Want
I don’t know about you, but I only fly with a certain airline and drink at a certain coffee place because I get so many perks from being a member of their loyalty program. And it’s not just me – almost 80% of people admit they’re more likely to commit to a business because of the loyalty program. You can very easily be one of those businesses!
Get to know your customers by analyzing how they use your loyalty program, what features they use more than others, and how fast they pounce on certain perks so that you can know what buyers need, what they want, what they spend on, and tailor the experience directly to them. This is another way to find out how to personalize those coupons and send them at magic moments.
Knowing your customers through their behavior with your loyalty program, and giving them more of what they want as well as perks, also leads directly to an increase in sales.
Conclusion
So it turns out, knowing your customers is the fast track to business growth!
By understanding their needs and wants, prioritizing customer service, personalizing the shopping experience, engaging with customers on social media, and using a loyalty program to reward them, you will get to know your customers and build a trustful relationship with them. Their trust in you will be exchanged for their loyalty, positive word of mouth around your business, and overall more sales.
LincSell has features that can help you get to know your customers in all ways! Book a Demo and see what LincSell can do for you!
