A beginner's guide on keeping your Customers close.

Starting a Business can be scary, but nurturing it can be scarier. It is not a Jack’s task to satisfy your customers, or to earn their trust and loyalty. There is so much to establish a business venture that the risk to fail keeps on oscillating above our heads, as a reminder of how tricky the business world can get. Now, I don’t mean to incite despair in our young budding entrepreneurs. In fact, what I serve today is a starter in your platter of all those How’s to survive the rocky path of Brand Building.

Understanding your Customer Needs-

As quoted by Sam Walton, the founder of world’s largest corporation Wal-Mart:

 “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”

Knowing and understanding customer needs is at the centre of every successful business, whether it sells directly to individuals or other businesses. Once you’re equipped with the complete knowledge of their interest, it gets a step easier to persuade your potential and existing customers in to becoming your frequent visitors.

To be more precise in apprehending your customer, one needs to question himself the following:-

·        Why do your Customers need you? Identify your Unique Sales Proposition (USP)

·        What do you know about your customer? Recognize who they are, what they buy, why they buy it.

·        How will you compete with other suppliers of the same product?Create lucrative strategies to win over your market competition.

Dig into the loopholes that lead to Business Failures-

This is almost the most crucial part for any business, let it be a Start-up or a Multinational Corporation (MNC) to mark their flag in the marketplace. Statistics reveal that roughly 20% of new businesses survive past their first year of operation. The proportion as small as it is, must not faint your flame of a successful setup. I tell you why. Many companies begin to function without prior research of the market, or they invest a very little effort in exploring the case studies of popular brands that crashed, the mistakes they made, and the anomalies in their tactics.

Some companies experiment too much with their marketing plans while others fail to bring something creative to the table. But, most of all, there are ample examples of ventures that could not adapt with the evolving needs of customer, to make them stay associated with the brand for a longer period of time.

This is where Customer Retention comes into play.

Grab Customer Loyalty-

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. said-

“Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they know it themselves.”

Once you’ve stepped into the market, each move has to be taken keeping in mind that consumers are everything. Getting to establish a brand name in the market begins with delivering quality product/services, and retaining them in a way that they are compelled to come back to you again and again. A brand has to set its place in the hearts of its customers for them to accept it into their lives. According to a market survey, Customer retention will be the most crucial factor by 2025, around which many brands will struggle. The competition in coming years would not be about acquisition of new customers but to retain the ones which matter the most. Therefore, it’s high time for brands to start pondering about market strategies such as better loyalty programs that help them retain their loyal customers for a longer time. This is not only important for the businesses to sustain the competition but also, to establish their brand as a trusted one in the market.