Marketing Now

HOW TO LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

HOW TO LISTEN

LISTEN TO THE RIGHT VOICE…

… by asking the right customer.

In a business sense, not all customers are equal. The elderly shopper who only buys on deal may be a lovely person but cannot be considered equal to the impulse buyer with unlimited resources.

On hearing that we do not have a full-service bar at Sporty’s, a lady replied, “Well, if I can’t get a good mixed drink, I’ll have to go someplace else.” As she was walking out the door, one of our servers said, “Maybe we should apply for a liquor license.” Maybe, maybe not. The fact is, we’re a casual café not a cocktail lounge. That’s not our concept, and the lady just won’t be our customer. Sometimes, you must say, “Great idea, but that’s not my customer.” At Sporty’s, we serve comfort food in large portions. I enjoy fine dining as much as the next guy, but Sporty’s isn’t fine dining. If you need a lobster fix, we aren’t the place.

Asking the wrong customer the right question will always yield a useless, perhaps misleading response.

And who is the right customer? The right customer is someone who has the potential for being highly profitable. Anyone not in that group should be respected but not catered to. (You may be surprised to discover that customers you think are profitable, may not be, so look carefully.)

An automobile manufacturer approached BIGresearch with a prob- lem. It had run a huge promotional campaign to encourage new car buyers to test-drive their latest minivan. Unfortunately, the company threw a wonderful party, but nobody came.

Disappointed and a bit red-faced, the executives in charge of the fiasco wanted to find out why the miserable turnout had produced even more miserable sales. “Find out why so few people actually purchased as a result of the test-drive,” was the order directed by the car company.

Not a bad question, unless it’s the only question. The other questions should have discovered the profile of the folks who actually re- sponded to the campaign: whether they purchased another vehicle, why they eliminated the client’s new vehicle, and a dozen others along that same line.

But the payoff questions were those posed to consumers who did not respond to the offer but nonetheless were in the market for a new automobile. The data pay dirt lies in questions such as: “Did you know about the campaign?” “What would have motivated you to go for a test drive?” “What do you already know about the vehicle?” “Why did you eliminate it as a potential new vehicle for you?” Those questions have meat. They will yield actionable information that will lead to trial and sales.

Always Follow Up

Almost any survey question you could ask will generate a follow-up question. Fail to ask the follow-up question, and you risk missing key data.

Question: “How important is style in your decision when purchasing shoes?”

Follow-up: “How do you determine what the latest fashion is?”

Follow-up: “How much do you expect a stylish pair of shoes to cost?”

Follow-up: “How often do you pay that amount for shoes?”

You could go on forever. Follow up until you have the data narrow enough to act on it.

Source: T. Scott Gross, “When Customers Talk… Turn What They Tell You into Sales,” Dearborn Trade Publishing, Chicago, 2005

Republished by Marketing Now

Related Posts:

• Asseblief, Laat My Nie
• Por Favor, No Me Dejes
• Por Favor, Nao Me Deixe
• Per Favore, Non Mi Lasciare
• Bitte, Lass Mich Nicht