Supporting your customers through these challenging times

Having good insight is not about what you want for your business, it is about what your current, and potential customers want in today’s market. In these challenging times, business owners are pushed to embrace a reactive approach and its all too common to be reactive. But do you have a good insight about what your customers are looking for in these challenging times, and do you believe that you have mapped out your capabilities to ‘pivot’?

Understanding customer insight

 I would encourage you to ask yourself:  are your products and services still relevant? With a lot of chatter going on around ‘pivoting’ – it is important you realign and adapt to these changing times.  For example, at KBA we maximised our value by offering online consultations. With changes happening with the legislation, we knew our customers were seeking answers to a lot of questions. Identify a service that best aligns with your customers and leverage from the current situation.

1. What products or services can you offer today? These are the most relevant products or services that will support your customers through these challenging times.
2. Think about how they would want to connect and deal with your company today.
3. What can you do to keep your business in front of your customers, so you stay ‘top of mind’ for when they need you?
4. What innovative ways can you stay ahead of your competitors?
5. What have you done to ensure your customers know you are still trading?

Understanding customer Foresight

Having good foresight is not just about thinking what your customers want today, but what they want in the future. Due to the current restrictions, we are already seeing businesses doing things differently for survival. If you want your business to survive through this situation, you really need to have good foresight. You need to think about what you can do differently to create a competitive edge and disrupt the market.

1. What will your customers want post-COVID-19?
2. What will your company need to do to stay ahead of your competitors?
3. What does the future look like in how your customers will want to connect and deal with your company?
4. What future products or services do you need to develop or invest in to maximise return on investment (ROI) as you come out the other side?
5. What are your innovative ways of thinking to stay ahead of your competitors?

My tips on creating good foresight opportunities

There are creative ways to develop customer insight and foresight in a business. At KBA, we came together as a team and brainstormed to identify some opportunities. Here are my tips to help you get a start at this:

1. Ask your customers ‘What do they need from us (your company) right now and in the future?’
2. Ask your team the same question ‘What do they think our customers need from us now and in the future?’
3. Look at what your competitors are doing poorly
4. Look at what your competitors are excelling at
5. Start packaging up your new ideas and incentives for customers to invest into your new offerings
6. Think about ways you can educate your customers about what is coming up and how you can market these foresight opportunities
7. Think about how you can make life easier for your customer to deal with you
8. You must demonstrate to your customers that you care

The importance of re-educating your customers about your products and services

 Do not assume your customers know everything about what you have to offer. Communication is critical in these times. With the screen time surging, there has never been a good time to market. Educate your customers about the new products and services that you are offering.

1. You may have a product or service that was not as relevant pre- COVID-19 and now it could be very relevant
2. Focus on what you are good at and known for and showcase your business through the following channels:

• Social media
• Blog/ Newsletters
• Direct emails
• Phone calls
• SMS
• Webinars

Being agile and thinking differently to attract new customer opportunities 

In order to attract new opportunities, you need to be agile, and you need to think differently. This may not pay off now, but if you are pivoting correctly, you will reap the benefits post- COVID-19. Now is the time to stand out as a leader in front of your team. But what does ‘being agile’ mean?

 Being Agile Means:

• Shifting with the times and moving quickly
• Making decisions now for the benefit of the business
• Investing in what is needed that is going to increase productivity and make things better for everyone
• Being instrumental in the way your company can deliver on your products and services
• Having team input and collaboration that supports the decisions of the business
• Using your staff’s core strengths for the benefit of the business to create better customer output
• Getting out of your comfort zone and going for it
• Having the mindset for a different way of thinking

Here are my tips if you want to stand out: 

I have seen businesses do the following things to break through the clutter:

1. Business owners taking ownership at the forefront of their business demonstrating true leadership
2. Companies who have put things in place for customer and staff safety
3. Companies who are trying to help their clients as appose to try and sell to them
4. Companies joining forces together with other business partners/ alliance partners to become more helpful and powerful together
5. Companies who are trying to make it easy for the customer to contact them i.e. Phone, e-mail, Calendly, Blogs, Website etc.
6. Companies who have great staff that are supporting the business through and through to get to the other side of COVID-19
7. Customers who are checking in on their suppliers who they engage with wanting reassurance that they are OK, which demonstrates good collaboration/ partnership!

Watch my webinar on ‘Supporting your customers through these challenging times’ – where I’ve shared tips on developing customer insight and foresight.

At KBA we are a team that are very passionate about taking businesses from good to great. If you are wanting help on how to improve on your company’s strategy, sales or staff through these tough times then contacts us today as we are here to help!