How to gain customer insights

In business and sales, the term “customer insight” is widely used. And that sounds vital as, after all, we all want to understand our customers. But what does this mean?

To understand consumer insight, you must first understand what occurs when a business lacks that skill. They often have poor outcomes from marketing activities, receive fewer inbound requests from potential customers, have minimal social media participation, and have difficulty booking meetings and closing new business. When client insights are insufficient, appropriate communication is nearly impossible.

What happens, on the other side, if you have exceptional customer insight? Meaningful communication results in a high response rate and a high volume of interactions, inbound inquiries, greater meeting frequency, and a higher percentage of closed deals.

Here’s how you can do it: 

Keep an eye on how customers get your product/services

By paying close attention to how customers approach, consider, and purchase, you can gain a better understanding of their thinking. However, keep in mind that because people may not always understand why they do certain things, you cannot question them about this approach. Whether it’s an online business or a brick-and-mortar location, you must observe their behaviour.

Do people just purchase when they visit physical stores or do they enquire first? Do they seek extra product information, pricing comparisons online, or assistance from a shop representative? By identifying tendencies, you can better prepare your employees to overcome these roadblocks.

If your items are sold online, sophisticated technologies can now tell you precisely where clients click, how long they remain on a page, and which sections of the page they are most interested in.

Customer Feedback

Perhaps the simplest method of eliciting consumer insights is to just ask them what they believe. Surveys and “How Are We Doing?”- type surveys could yield valuable insights for future efforts.

And there is no better approach to ascertain your clients’ needs than to ask them. Never be scared to ask. Similar to when you were a child and were frightened to raise questions in class for fear of being labelled a nerd.  Never forget that knowledge is power! The same is true in business. The more information you have on your customers, the better your chances of succeeding.

It is important to understand the type of product or service to provide clients, the niche to target, and the sales approach to employ. That is why it is critical to enquire. Nowadays, there are several methods for obtaining accurate feedback from your customers.

Analyse the competition

Interviewing the customers of your competition gives an outside viewpoint on your target audience or business. Knowing your rivals’ apparent strengths and shortcomings is critical for market differentiation.

Once you’ve established their position, you may compare it to that of other businesses in the market. Knowing how much time and money they put into marketing, new product development, and thought leadership positions you to forecast their future course.

While it is critical to employ these methods of data gathering, knowing your target audience is ultimately about stories; they reflect and shape how people perceive the world. By comprehending their personal narratives, you could establish a stronger connection with your consumers and tie them to your business’s objective.

How to begin with consumer insights

  • Determine what you want to learn: prior to undertaking research, determine what (and how) you will obtain your data.
  • Identify your resources: how will data be obtained, who will gather it, and who will analyse it? Ascertain that you have sufficient time and resources allocated to acquiring and utilising customer insights.
  • How do you acquire data? How you acquire data is critical. Are you attempting to reach a certain demographic? Existing clients? Are you going to conduct a survey? What is a focus group? These are important inquiries. Trustpilot’s and Google’s Review Insights feature is an excellent place to begin.
  • How are you going to use the data? Determine that your efforts are not in vain. It is critical to prepare ahead and think strategically. After you have the data, consider which departments, processes, strategies, and campaigns may be impacted and develop a response strategy.
  • Finally, get going! Consumer insight gathering is time-consuming but can pay off in the long term.