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The Gist
- Journey mapping. Understanding customers’ journeys provides insights into their preferences and unmet needs, driving better-targeted strategies.
- Market research. Conducting effective market research helps identify customer desires, trends and competitor strategies, allowing for informed decision-making.
- Data analysis. Analyzing customer analytics reveals patterns and behaviors that inform companies about how to create satisfying experiences, fostering loyalty and growth.
The age-old art of anticipating the needs of others is now a key component of a successful business strategy.
Specifically, anticipating customer needs is essential for modern companies looking to maintain their competitive edge and retain loyalty.
To start, I recommend focusing on four main areas: understanding your customers’ journeys, doing market research (the right way), using analytics to find patterns in data and staying ahead of the latest trends in consumer behavior.
The strongest companies in the market today understand the value of customer satisfaction and loyalty in driving bottom line growth. We all know that customer experience is important for any business strategy, but success depends on understanding why customers keep coming back.
In this article, we’ll lay out some actionable tactics marketing and customer experience teams can start using today to anticipate customer needs in a way that ultimately leads to increased brand loyalty and greater revenue growth.
Understanding Your Customers’ Journeys
Understanding your various customers’ journeys is a key part of anticipating their needs. By tracking how customers interact with your products or services from initial contact through purchase and beyond, your team will gain valuable sneak peeks into areas where customer needs are not fully being met. This information also provides a foundational understanding of the behavior and preferences customers have when interacting with different elements of your product or service.
Using journey mapping to discern consumer behavior patterns is undoubtedly a powerful tool, but you have to approach each mapping exercise with the right goals in mind. When it comes down to it, you’ll want to know about what works and what doesn’t for your target audience(s), accurately predict customer preferences, reveal trends in interaction and purchasing habits, and — last but not least — identify customer segmentation possibilities.
To successfully use this type of qualitative data to accurately determine consumer behavior patterns you’ll need to:
- Analyze every line of business and every touchpoint.
- Compare current and historical customer data.
- Survey customers directly.
- Utilize a mix of sources.
It’s not just as simple as sitting down with your team for an hour and guessing at what customers experience when they interact with your brand. The more robust your journey data, the better.
Related Article: Customer Journey Mapping: A How-To Guide
How to Conduct the Right Market Research
We all know on some level that market research is essential for staying ahead of the competition and meeting customer demands. Again though, we must start the process with clearly defined goals in mind. Namely, identifying what customers are looking for in terms of features, pricing models and other factors that influence buying decisions. Market research often also provides insights into competitor strategies, current trends and customer demographics — if you’re looking in the right places.
To understand the current landscape of your target audience(s), identify real life potential customers and study their needs. Build a deep comprehension around how prospects approach your product or service. Then use this information to enable your company to make more educated decisions about offer strategies.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t note here how crucial it is to:
- Select the right research methods and design questions that are relevant and answerable.
- Ensure data accuracy.
- Use both quantitative and qualitative approaches when possible.
- Review findings before presenting any information as fact.
Related Article: How to Make the Customer Journey More Data Driven
Find the Customer Behavior Patterns
Use the customer analytics you have at your fingertips (often coming from the contact center) to collect data on why and how customers choose to interact with your brand. Then dedicate a fair amount of time to analyzing this data for patterns that may indicate opportunities for improvement or potential pitfalls in experiences. This data gives companies today a fuller understanding of what customers need and want from these interactions.
This process is a time commitment, but the key to discerning consumer behavior patterns is brainpower, long days and plenty of coffee. The rewards are immeasurable, though. This data has the power to inform companies about what will make or break a deal with your consumer base. And when equipped with this knowledge, businesses can play directly into how customers think and why they make certain decisions.
Anticipating Future Trends of Your Customers
The post-pandemic, millennial customers of today expect delightful experiences more consistently than ever, so it’s no longer enough for businesses to merely keep up with trends — you have stay ahead of them.
My advice is to use data-driven insights to better anticipate what’s coming around the corner next. With a combination of market research, analytics and customer journey analysis, businesses can create engaging customer experiences that not only drive short-term growth, but also ensure long-term relationships.
Ultimately, anticipating upcoming trends is the only way to make sure your company is well positioned in today’s customer-centric economy. Stay up to date on industry shifts and developments, study consumer behaviors and preferences, monitor market conditions, keep an eye on competitors’ strategies, collect feedback regularly from your frontline and always remain open to new ideas.
If you’re willing to put in the elbow grease, using customer experience to maintain your competitive edge will be pushed to the forefront of overall business strategy and objectives.
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