Understanding your Customer

By Heather C. Conover
Conover + Company Communications

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't care where-" said Alice.
Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"-so long as I get somewhere."
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

If you're running an organization, it's important that you not only "get somewhere," but also that the "somewhere" is a place that "you want to get to." Many companies and organizations - both large and small - fail to meet their objectives, because they haven't taken the time to understand their markets and their customers.

While we all acknowledge that it's practically impossible to succeed with a product or service that customers don't want, many organizations do not understand what their customers do want. Failing to respond to changes in the market, ignoring the primary customer, and developing a product or service without identifying the target customer are among the common mistakes made by organizations.

Knowledge that your customers like or need something today, is also no guarantee that they'll feel the same way next year or in five years. Their decisions can be influenced by many external factors, most of which are beyond your control.

While many organizations think that market research is too expensive, it, in fact, is critical to making informed business decisions. Business decisions shouldn't be based on gut feelings and perceptions. Information that is gathered informally through conversations with customers, for example, may be misleading because it hasn't looked objectively at or correctly identified problems or opportunities.

A formal market research effort doesn't have to be expensive, but it does need to be objective and systematic. The first step is to define your organization's problem or opportunity. Next identify what may be causing the problem or would influence the opportunity, making sure that these are things that can be tested and measured. Thirdly, look at and analyze information that you have on-hand, e.g., employee and customer feedback, customer and sales records, and advertising and promotion schedules and results.

This information may provide you with all the data you need to identify not only the causes or influences, but also the solution or actions that need to be taken to solve the problem or seize upon the opportunity. If so, you're well on your way to getting where you want to go. If not, we'll talk about next steps, primary and secondary research, in the next issue of Productivity Reports.

Winter 2004 -Volume 14, Number 1

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