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Recently, after a trip to my mailbox, I was reminded of the importance of knowing your customers. It was a typical Saturday afternoon as I approached the mailbox and reached in for the mail. I was greeted with the standard of bills, bills, and more bills. The exception was one elegant package that was very discriminating in its appearance.
Although this package was no bigger than a standard legal size envelope, its presentation made it stand out from the rest of the mail. The regal black envelope was made of a thick, glossy stock, and the cable company’s information was printed in a dazzling silver color in the upper left corner. The envelope was sealed, in part, by glue, as well as a very beautiful black ribbon neatly tied in place.
This packaging automatically had me thinking that this company meant business and surely had enclosed an offer as grand as their packaging. Curiosity coursed through my veins as I reached my doorstep. Upon entering my home, I eagerly opened the package and pulled out the enclosed information. As I unfolded the paper, my excitement quickly turned into disappointment.
The company certainly did have an offer. However, everything was written in Spanish. I called upon the four years of Spanish that I had way back in high school, and I could decipher bits and pieces of the material. Plus, judging by all the exclamation points, I could tell that they must be offering something good. But ultimately it was to no avail, because I couldn’t understand their entire message.
What was once excitement quickly turned into disappointment, and that disappointment then turned into frustration. The company had even done a mail merge to insert my name into the enclosed letter. Which left me wondering, when they sorted names to insert into these letters, which part of Kathy Rostan sounded Hispanic to them? I wondered how a company could have spent so much time, money, and effort, on such a striking presentation, and yet seemingly spent so little time and effort on knowing anything about their customers. Needless to say, I promptly filed their offer—in the trash.
The way I see it, there are three lessons to be learned from this experience.
Lesson One: To know your customers is to also know profitable sales. If you don’t know your customers, all the pretty packaging in the world won’t help you or your sales.
Effectively marketing your product means that you must also know your target audience. Ask yourself questions that can help you get a better picture of your customers in relation to your business. Who wants to buy your products? What is their age group? What language do they speak? Are they married? Where do they live? What are their hobbies? What products of yours are of most interest to them?
Once you have the questions that will give you insights into who your customers are, you can begin your research. You can find the answers you’re looking for through a variety of methods.
You can create a customer comment card that you enclose with their purchase. This is a good way to ask them such information as their name, address, interests, whether or not they’re satisfied with your services and product selection, and whatever else you feel is appropriate. You can also send out surveys by mail, which allows you more room to ask more questions. Plus, as an incentive for filling out the questionnaire and returning it, you can offer them a coupon good towards their next purchase in your store. Also, don’t forget your employees—they can be a wealth of information. Ask them about their interactions with customers on a regular basis. They may have insights into something you’re missing.
Lesson Two: Your parents were right. It’s what’s inside that counts.
You can target your customers with direct mail pieces that visually wow them and entice them to open the pieces. But if the information and offers found on the inside fall short, you’ve lost your customer. Similarly, you can have an attractive storefront that entices your customers to enter. But once inside, if your products, services, and promotions fall short, so will your sales.
So go ahead and provide a pretty visual interest to entice your customers. Just remember to support that with the information, promotion, products, and services that your customers are looking for. It’s also important to remember that when providing all of this information, don’t try to fool your customers with hype and puffery. Also, don’t try to make them think too hard for too long. Lost customer sales are like lost time—they’re never found again.
Lesson Three: Though this lesson may seem slightly redundant, it is important enough to repeat. No matter how many ways you choose to dissect your business, at the end of the day, it all goes back to the necessity of knowing your customers.
Bluntly stated, business owners need their customers more than their customers need them. After all, what is anyone’s business without his or her customers?
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