The entrepreneurs lose contact with their customers!

According to an article in today's media, Emelie Ekblad at Microsoft claims that companies only look at market figures and trend analyzes today. Instead, they should get to know their customer.

Not too long ago, the merchant understood his customers. The relationship between them was deep and close. By being responsive and understanding the customers' needs, the merchant was able to increase his sales. When the customer requested an item, it didn't take long before the item was on the store's shelf. But then something happened.

The local trader was replaced by national and international chains. In an increasingly centralized and globalized world, something was lost. Responsiveness to customer needs was lost and replaced by market analysts' consumer insights.

The changing behavior of consumers
It is easy to understand if many marketers and salespeople today feel at a loss. The number of channels to reach customers has exploded. The noise is constantly increasing and the target groups are becoming more and more fragmented. It is then easy to conclude that the world is becoming more and more complex and that it is becoming more difficult to understand and build strong relationships with one's target groups.

Consumers have changed behavior and have an increased eagerness to share information with others. You build strong and close relationships on social media. People take impressions of people with whom they have no clear ties.

But is this something new? Did the local merchant view his customers as homogenous target groups or as individuals who had different needs?

Today, it is faster and easier to understand the outside world and customers. New behaviour, consumption patterns and changes in customers can be discovered early on. Today, we can gain the same insights that the trader gained by being responsive. We can be responsive in a different way today. Today, our customers tell us about their needs without us having to ask. Everything is there. But the question is whether we as a company listen or see it. And if we take it to heart. We must again see responsiveness as a way to increase our sales.

Be responsive every day
By making listening a part of our daily work, as part of existing tools, we can gain knowledge about customers' needs earlier than before. Insights into customer needs need to be quickly translated into action. Systematically collect customer requests so that you can see patterns early and adjust the range. It is important to be able to adapt your supply to demand, otherwise customers will turn to another supplier and you will lose relationships. The social and responsive company holds the future. Just like the merchant who listened and adapted.

A very good way to investigate what your customers want and expect is to use our SMS services. With the help of surveys and other mailings, it is easy to keep in touch with customers, be responsive to their needs and be able to make early changes that customers require in order to remain in a relationship with your company.