An article in the Wall Street Journal documented the unorthodox way a new CEO of a major company was using to market products – he actually asked customers what they wanted, and gave it to them. It seems like such a simple, and obvious, technique that one wonders why others haven’t thought of it. Well, actually, many others have. The trouble is that too few businesses put it into practice.
Marketing is the product! The other aspects – sales, price, promotion, location – are all driven by the product. The most successful businesses strive to identify what’s missing, or what can solve an issue, or something that’s an improvement on the competition’s offering. Then they develop products that will meet those needs. The other aspects of marketing are then employed to sell the product. The best advertising in the world won’t sell a dud of a product for very long.
Do you offer a service? What kind of service – within the context of your experience and skills – do your prospects need? Once identified, make that aspect of service the centerpiece of your business. You can still do the other things if the opportunity presents itself. But use your centerpiece to prioritize your sales and promotion activities.
How do you find out what your customers want or need? Ask. Do primary research if you can afford it. Conduct secondary research by reading the results of other surveys, using Internet searches, and keeping abreast of demographics, trends, etc. in your targeted market. And, last but not least, use guerrilla market research. Ask people at random. Ask your current customers. Seek feedback. Strike up conversations with likely looking strangers.
There are many ways to conduct research – some scientifically valid and some not – that can help you make sure your product or service is the one you need for success. The important thing, however, is to ask, and to keep asking.
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