What are the best ways to keep your brand responsive to customer needs?

Brands are anthropomorphic, ie we can see them as human. What brands (and their founders and custodians) want is a long, healthy relationship with their target customers. Like human relationships, brand-customer relationships too need hard work. A healthy relationship speaks to understanding the other’s thoughts before they’ve been spoken Of being dependable and reliable, not capricious. Of being someone who can be trusted to do what’s right by us. And of staying in step with us as we change. Each of these ‘demands’ when flipped, require brands to be in touch with changing needs, with competitive trends, with being consistent in delivery and execution, of having integrity and of being ready to iterate their value proposition. Stay healthy!

One of the very first things as a startup is to figure out the product-market fit. And one of the best ways to understand the product-market fit is to find the pain points of customers. At my previous job Emma, one of the fastest-growing D2C brands in the Home Furnishing industry, we spent a ton of time understanding the needs of the customer via one-to-one interviews, short surveys, and analyzing our traffic with the broader aim of identifying customer personas. It was gruesome and tiring but once we nailed it down, growth followed automatically. With my current company, a small B2B Energy Company, we once again started at the root -->identifying who our customers are and how can we solve their most pressing issues.

Listen to your customers, get their feedback, be empathic and be very responsive. Be open to your customers, don't be rigid. Let them know and see that you have their interests at the forefront

Absolutely. One of the most fundamental challenges brands face when it comes to this is misunderstanding their value. They think ‘we offer this convenient solution at an affordable price’ is an end all be all proposition and while that may be just enough to acquire customers, once someone comes in with a lower price, it becomes a losing battle with thinner margins. So focus on something more singular, a benefit that touches into the core of a human truth (of course you need more than just this, but it is a key piece of the puzzle). Invest behind that, and just like brands like Nike and Apple, it’ll take more than a good deal to get people to switch from your brand.

Before I joined Hari Om Udyog, our marketing spend was near 0 (I say near because we did occasionally hold dinner and greet with some of our clients, but that was essentially it). Once I understood who our ideal customers are and what their needs are I went for the "Where". We found WhatsApp and Emails are some of the most used tools by our potential customers so we approached them there. Communicating our value as an Authorized Channel Partner willing to go the extra mile to streamline purchases and minimize downtime worked well for us. In less than 6 months, sales rose by 17% just from new accounts.

Price. Quality. Delivery Timelines. These are the 3 things most customers look for when making a purchase. Add after-sales service to the mix and you have the holy grail of what makes or breaks a company in our industry. Quality and after-sales were our strong suits. Pricing was higher but the overall PLV was strong. Delivery timelines however were a big challenge. Some products had lead times well north of 40 weeks. Imagine shutting down your production for 40 weeks due to semiconductor shortages. However, every region in India had its own industries, thereby having a specific set of products used most frequently. We leveraged this and were able to get products in under 2 weeks which took competitors 30-40 weeks!

1. Nobody follows up with us once we request for quotation 2. There is no transparency after we place an order 3. I have no idea which of my products is at end of life 4. I wish someone offered me a nice chocolate ice cream during these hot summer visits Three of the above four were complaints from my customers, potential and current (and one was mine). I could sense the pattern. People are busy and they don't have the time and energy to follow up on every case they have (and boy, do they have so many). When cases run for 6 months plus, it's easy to forget what happened 2 months ago in 1 of 23 active cases. We acknowledged their issues and started working on a vendor and client portal which is due to be live in Q4 2023.

Our competitors were all major players doing anywhere between 50-150 Million USD in revenue. We were, in competition, at less than 10% of the bottom number. Clearly, they had a better team, more resources, lower purchase costs, better technology and all the other bells and whistles... ... but we had something they lacked. A personal touch. Imagine being so pissed off that your factory is shut down and reaching customer support typing 9 for the 7th time trying to reach a human. Versus calling the owner on his personal phone and getting quotations for products after sales in less than 6 hours. That is the SLA that differentiated us from everyone else.

It’s my view point we should keep all under mentioned factors to keep brands responsive to customer needs Key points: 1. Listening attentively to your audience is crucial in the digital landscape. 2.Interaction is essential - respond to queries, encourage discourse, and be receptive to input. 3.Implement regular surveys and polls to gain insights into audience desires and preferences. 4.Advocate for clients to share evaluations and thoughts on products to enhance trust and improve. 5.Stay updated on market shifts and adapt to new trends and platforms. 6.Leverage customer data for personalized correspondences and initiatives. 7.Establish partnerships with digital influencers to understand audience needs accurately.