Research Adds Value
Who are you best set up to serve?
Do you know what their key drivers are?
How are you ensuring you are staying relevant?
On the 29th of June 2007 Apple launched the first iPhone. It was dubbed a “smartphone” and was destined to change the industry forever as every other phone company scrambled to come up with their own version of a smartphone. Nowadays the only place you are likely to find a phone that is not capable of doing a multiplicity of things, other than calling and texting, is going to be in an antique store or specialised web site.
Who would want a phone that could only call or text? Two groups actually. The elderly - who want a simple, easy to use phone that enables them to contact people they feel like calling them; and parents, buying phones for younger children and not wanting them to get addicted to the plethora of attention-grabbing distractions that smartphones infamously offer.
What does this have to do with you and your business? A huge amount actually. Too many businesses lack focus and aim to please as many people as possible by offering all they can to anybody who might want it. This creates multiple issues across all facets of the business - from the marketing message not being clear; inventory levels being too high of slow moving product; sales reps not being focused; and financial resources being stretched thin across too wide a range.
Are you clear on who you are best set up to serve, what problems you overcome for clients and what they deeply desire? The better you understand your clients, the better you can serve them.
This simple truth offers a secret that increases conversion rates and dramatically improves customer retention. The better prepared we are before we engage and contact clients, the more confident we feel and customers can tell the difference between us prepared and us ‘winging-it’.
How do you prepare before contacting clients? Do you research on their website, Google the company and key people, look at information available on site like the company office, look on social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn? Looking at reviews and testimonials, ask suppliers, research their competitors and builds a fuller picture of the client and their industry. Notes you have on your CRM and internal knowledge with the team can all add to building the best understanding possible.
Armed with this insight and information it is easier to then identify how you will add value to your client. This focus gives every client contact more purpose and helps clarify the ideal next steps. In turn, this produces better meetings and more fruitful outcomes.
Could your client contact benefit from more research ahead of the time to deliver a better result in the meeting?
Here's to your success!
