Of all the stages along the Customer Journey, the one to elicit the most excitement is when that purchase is finally made, when the purchase registers on the store’s inventory list and when the purchase registers in the mind of the salesperson — and on their commission cheque…
When customers purchase your wares that is pretty sound evidence that you are doing something right, right? Well, yes and no…
Many a bright idea, a midnight concept over a rare Merlot or a childhood dream has been transformed into a reality. While the creator sits back in pride and euphoria at the manifestation of their idea, there are too many instances where that product flops, owing to a lack of due diligence.
70-90 percent of the buying process happens before customers engage with your company.
By the time a successful product moves off the shelf and into someone’s welcoming arms, a fair deal of strategizing, plotting and planning has gone into moving that product.
In the wise words of Seth Godin: “Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers!”
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all our great ideas were embraced enthusiastically by the marketplace? However, there are times that a product just doesn’t connect with consumers and therefore does not sell. In other cases, it may not reach a company’s expectations or plans, or the product is recalled or discontinued because of some flaw.
Even though failure is part of doing business, there are multitudinous examples of failures owing to a lack of conducting market research before relying on customers purchasing a product.
Market research: understanding why customers purchase — or don’t
Conducting market research can tell you how your company is viewed by the target customers you hope to reach. It can help you understand how to connect with them, show how you measure up against the competition, and evaluate what your competitors are doing to attract customers.
Market research can be the difference between making wise decisions that drive business forward and poor decisions that damage your business.
Market research also gives you an opportunity to question customers who are not purchasing by asking them directly: “Why not?” Interestingly, you may uncover some hard-to-hear sentiments about your business and/or products that you weren’t aware of and why rather, those customers purchase from the opposition!
A key advantage of market research around customer purchase is that it can help you decide whether a new idea for a business or product is viable and whether customers will find it appealing – based on how similar products have performed in the marketplace.
Boosting purchasing can be enhanced by something as simple as packaging. Market research can help you make informed product packaging and promotional decisions, as well as developing effective marketing messages that connect with your customers, that draw them in and result in a customer purchasing your offering.
There is no getting away from it, the competitive environment is growing increasingly challenging. If there is one thing that can persuade you to make market research a key part of your business growth strategy, it’s to assume that your competitors are!
