I was running a seminar with CAFRE as a part of the Farm Diversification Challenge last night and I was reminded how essential it is that we understand our customers before we start dreaming up our next project or product.
History is littered with classic cases of inventors getting it horribly wrong. Even for some of the most successful products it has taken a long time to catch on - How long did it take Amazon to move into profit? Other businesses and products remain relegated to the fad market, no matter how many times yo-yo's come back, they're never going to stay popular enough for you to base your business on becauce they simply don't keep us amused enough and we don't buy enough of them.
I then got thinking about i phone apps. How many of us download an app that looks good but actually it amuses us no longer than 5 minutes and then is either deleted or forgotten. Are we becoming more demanding in what we want for our entertainment buck or are we so spoilt for choice that we automatically look for something better?
Brands are now understanding more than ever that they have to know their customer and engage with them, which is why so many people queued to buy the iphone 4 even when they clearly knew there were issues with it.
My question to you is - How well do you know your customers and their needs and wants? Are they always looking for the next best thing and are you providing it? Finally, ask yourself, if your product was flawed and both you and your prospects knew it - how many of them would queue up to buy it, never the less?
There are lessons for us all to learn by going back to basics, no matter how long we've been in business, so today may be the best day to re-introduce yourself to your customers...
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