Most entrepreneurs start a business with an answer to a problem. You notice something is lacking in the marketplace and create your company to provide the solution. You anticipate customer needs and offer the product that meets them. Thus, a brand is born. The growth successful companies experience tends to complicate this relationship. However, anticipating and meeting your customer's expectations should remain the focus of your business model, even when priorities change.
Are your customers satisfied?
Customer feedback is crucial as you grow any business. The first people to buy a product are often surprised at how a company could meet or exceed their expectations with such a great solution. This type of response is why many people go into business in the first place. Entrepreneurs see an inadequate marketplace and deliver a product to take care of that issue once and for all. The challenge of business is sustaining success through expansion and new product development.
Along the way, you will learn a great deal about how your customers feel, if you are willing to listen. Open multiple channels of communication (e.g., social media, e-mail, online chat, etc.), so customers can take the time to leave feedback quickly and easily. Through these comments, complaints, encouragements, and suggestions, you will likely see a picture of what your earliest adopters think of your work. Understanding the prevailing mood of customers is important if you want to meet their needs. Then, you can grapple with ways to respond.
The customer needs conundrum
An apocryphal quote usually attributed to Henry Ford perfectly sums up the complexity of company-customer relationships. "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses," the saying goes, according to Harvard Business Review. Basing your entire business strategy on company feedback and suggestions could lead you down a dead-end path. After all, no one following you on Twitter suggested a direction for your company back when you created it.
At the same time, burning a bridge with an existing customer is foolish. Any experienced marketer will tell you it is far easier to sell a new product to a returning customer than it is to convert someone using another brand or find a new customer in the clutter of modern media. Likewise, loyal customers (i.e., brand advocates) serve companies better than any splashy ad campaign. Your customers are your best marketers.
Meeting customer needs better
The best way to meet (or exceed) customer expectations is to compromise on the warring urges. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of your company as you apply feedback. If you entered the market as the budget provider of a popular product, you may enter dangerous territory by expanding to high-end goods. Consumers in the luxury market tend to prize brand recognition when they make purchases. As Kia learned with its venture into the luxury car market, convincing people to associate its brand with exclusivity can be a long, hard battle.
A better direction for a provider of budget goods would be to expand into another market using the same tactic. The case of Warby Parker, the maker of fashionable eyewear at low prices, is an instructive example. Were this company to enter another fashion accessory market at the best-value option, existing customers would undoubtedly give the products a shot. Other ways to meet customer needs are less complicated. Improving your shipping options or order fulfillment can change your company's reputation without having to change the business model. Great customer service, extended product warranties, and lower prices also work well.
When customers talk, business owners are best served by listening. Whether you tune in to social networks or launch an online survey, there are ways to receive valuable feedback you can use to improve your company's standing in the marketplace.
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