In the world of business, it’s easy to fall into the assumption that all customers are the same and that they buy products or services for the same reasons. However, this is far from the truth. Each customer is unique, with different preferences, motivations, and purchasing patterns. Here, we explore the importance of understanding customer variability and how it can benefit your business.
Unveiling Customer Differences
To illustrate the concept of customer variability, let’s take a trip to a local supermarket. Look around and observe the diverse range of people and their shopping habits. You’ll notice a man purchasing new dinner plates without any food to eat from them, a woman fussily buying vegetables, a lady picking up an online order without browsing the shelves, and a few others with trollies overflowing with their weekly shop. The scenario in the supermarket highlights that customers have distinct reasons for visiting and varying needs when it comes to purchasing. The same principle applies to your business. To effectively cater to your customers, you need to understand who they are and what they want from you.
Understanding Customer Profiles
One crucial aspect of catering to diverse customer needs is developing customer profiles. By creating detailed profiles, we can gain insights into each customer’s preferences, behaviours, and motivations. This information enables our clients to tailor their products, services, and marketing strategies to meet their specific needs, tweaking as things change. And it’s all available from your customer data – you just need to know how to tap into it.
Customer profiles allow you to identify different customer segments.
For example, a gaming company has many different customer profiles and segments – not limited to just gamers.
People buy them as gifts for different reasons. Some may buy a game the moment it comes out as a gift because they know the recipient will want it then and only then – not later.
Others may wait until there is a sale which may be months after the game was released and it won’t matter.
Others might buy it for Christmas in December rather than for the birthday in June.
It’s all in the data if you know how to find it – we do!
Unlocking Sales Opportunities
Understanding customer variability not only helps you cater to different customer segments but also allows you to identify sales opportunities beyond the initial release period. For example, if you’re in the game industry, you might assume that sales are limited to the six weeks after a game’s release. However, even after this period, there are customers who are still interested in purchasing the game. By leveraging data insights and understanding your customers’ buying behaviours, you can uncover these opportunities and optimise your sales strategies accordingly.
Clients we work with often have that lightbulb moment – realising that the information was in the data all along, hiding in plain sight until we came along and revealed it! How does that old phrase go – you don’t know what you don’t know. Luckily, we know…
Conclusion
Recognising that all customers are not the same is crucial for business success. By understanding customer variability, you can develop comprehensive customer profiles, tailor your products and services to meet specific needs, and uncover hidden sales opportunities. Embrace the uniqueness of your customers and make data-driven decisions to enhance their experience with your brand. By doing so, you’ll build stronger customer relationships, increase customer satisfaction, and drive business growth.
Remember, in the vast marketplace, every customer is different, even if they are buying the same thing.
It’s up to you (or us, if we are working with you!) to discover their preferences, motivations, and buying patterns.