5 Ways to get to know your clients better.

With the emergence of market places over the past centuries came brave individuals who wanted to become part of the revolution. This meant that these individuals had to start small organisations and build them up. Today we know them as companies and businesses.

With the understanding of business, came a time when we had to manage our solid clientele and with the clientele that was solid, this meant that early man had to figure out how to keep their existing clientele coming back to their store over and over again.

This brings us to the modern-day marketer. Marketers are constantly analysing data on their current and prospective clientele in hopes of catching and retaining their attention. This means as a marketer, you must understand/know your clientele in-depth constantly in order to retain them.

Below we will explore a few pointers that any individual or organisation can implement to stay relevant with their existing and prospective clientele.

  1. Do not make assumptions.

One of the greatest errors that marketers are constantly making is to assume their clientele tastes and preferences. This is a mistake that is costing a lot of organisations their existing clientele as none of their offerings are personalised and the common belief of What worked yesterday should work today is rampant. What worked yesterday does not work today because of natural human behaviour.

  1. The use of social media

What is the best way of gathering intel on an individual or organisation at a personal level than social media? A study has shown that only 38% of marketers are relying on social media for better targeting. This shows that there are fewer marketers that are relying on data to make definitive and coherent decisions.

Not only can data help us understand our clients but it can help up improve on our day to day offerings.

Learn more about the Benefits of social media

  1. Conduct surveys and polls

Surveys and polls are a great way of getting to know your prospective client’s tastes and preferences. Any marketer that understands what their client is craving at a specific moment and offers it, is more likely to stay more relevant to their client over other marketers. This is what gives smart marketers an edge.

  1. Previous purchases and interactions

This may sound old school but, with e-commerce businesses, this is simplified. All you have to do is analyse your clients’ behaviour on your website. Walk on the same path they walked on your website to better understand what next are they most likely to purchase or be interested in. This is particularly important for brands that have caught up to the digital age and are willing to embrace it. The fourth industrial revolution is fast approaching and businesses that are not catching up or opening up to the possibility will soon become obsolete.

  1. Take your clients to lunch for project discussions

This point may be one of the most overlooked points apart from the above mentioned. This point is mostly focused on B2B marketers. Taking your clients out is not only a great gesture but also allows you and your client to be at a relaxed state instead of the office.  This is a point where you can show off your social skills. At the end of the day, you are just trying to form deeper and meaningful connections. According to Entreprenuer.com, lunch with your client can help make you more persuasive as you may be portrayed as socialisable individual. Client relations can further help improve your delivery as there is less tension in the air and you might have figured out their point of view and understood what makes them tick.

Overall, knowing your client can help drastically not only improve relations but improve overall performance for the project that brings you and your client. It can further improve your social skills and point of view.

 

 

Sakkie Ngobeni