My current project (Daysteps) is a challenge because our first product is a personal planner for people with very different priorities and viewpoints compared to the average, career-focused consumer who uses a traditional planner. Fortunately, two of the four cofounders are in our perfect customer group, so we know firsthand many of the needs of our target market.
But what if we didn't have this built in knowledge and expertise? As strategists and marketers, you and I understand that keys to success of a product or service include knowing the ideal customer base and speaking to their needs. What is not always clear is exactly how one does so.
It is easiest when the product developers are very similar to the ideal customer. But what of when the customers are very different from the individuals in charge of product development (kids, teens, women not in the work force, those in a non-traditional work environment, for example)? In those cases, you must somehow become the ideal customers. Get inside their heads. Feel their emotions. Experience their reactions to relevant situations. In short, understand their viewpoints.
Here are tips to more thoroughly - and inexpensively - get to know your ideal customers:
If possible, have someone(s) on the team who is in your ideal customer group. In that same vein, do primary research, no matter how small the test sample. Then carry the knowledge you gain throughout the planning, development, and implementation processes. (I hear the experienced testers out there yelling, "Statistical significance!" I know, I KNOW. But sometimes, small companies have to work with the limited knowledge and budget available to them.)
Respect what your ideal customer is telling you. I've seen cases where a segment of the target customer group is yelling a viewpoint (sometimes literally), but it falls on worse-than-deaf ears. Company management discounts those feelings as irrelevant because they don't understand how anyone could really feel that way. Don't be one of those managers. As long as there are competitors or substitutes for what you are marketing, you MUST take your ideal customer seriously.
Understand the test group. Unless you can afford to commission a controlled test - with a large enough test group to be statistically significant - you will need to combine analysis, a basic knowledge of the customer, and business sense when making decisions. During Daysteps development, we had a variety of women, each falling within the general demographic guidelines we'd developed, use a beta planner for one month. Upon completion they submitted a survey consisting of a variety of demographic, opinion, and preference questions. We then looked at two subgroups - those who did not care for the planner at all and those who loved it - and studied the differences.With a small test sample, the differences between groups could be right on, directional, or completely irrelevant. There's no way of knowing by simply studying the data. You, therefore, need to run a reality check on your results. This is when your business sense and basic knowledge of the customer come into play. Compare your results to what you already know to see if they "play true." If you cannot tell, gather more information until you believe the results are at least pointing you in the right direction.
Get permission to go back to your test group. As you move forward, you will become aware of gaps in your knowledge. Return to the test group and gather more information to fill in the gaps.
Understand there's no such thing as perfect. Whatever your conclusions and actions, there will be detractors. Some will represent changes that should be made (due to unmet customer demand or changes in the competitive environment). Others will be the result of natural differences among people. Remember that it is impossible to be everything to everyone. Knee jerk reactions to an individual's feedback could result in changes less appealing to your perfect customer group. Instead, make changes with your ideal customer in mind.
The better you know your ideal customers and the more you integrated their viewpoints into the development and management processes, the more success you will enjoy.
Bobette Kyle draws upon nearly 20 years of Marketing/Executive experience, online marketing experience, and a marketing MBA as inspiration for her writing. She is cofounder of Daysteps LLC at www.Daysteps.com, where the company's Personal Lifestyle Planner helps you feel calm and capable about becoming the person you want to be. Bobette has also been publishing the marketing plan and Website promotion site www.WebsiteMarketingPlan.com since 2001.
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