Customer is King. And there is no business that is an exception to this rule. Customer demands drive major trends in any business today. Attributes of a product or service, like cost, comfort, style, safety, reliability, functionality are heavily based on customer demands. Customer demands, combined with technology advancements shape the evolution of industry. In complex niche markets, it is easy to lose business when the customer is dissatisfied with the product or service. And word travels fast. Loss of one customer can escalate and result in the loss of more business, if one does not act fast.
The rapidly developing and shifting market conditions of today push companies to understand that the needs, priorities, and even strategies of its customers can change very quickly. So, it makes sense to invest in understanding how one can best meet these evolving requirements in order to bring new and innovative products, services and systems to customers faster. Be it a bar of soap or a rocket, customers have their unique demands and expectations from a product. And if an organization chooses to ignore demands, it loses business in a matter of months or years.
Reliability and durability
Most customers demand and rightfully do so, for better reliability and durability of product/service. They want value for the amount of money spent. Customers want service and maintenance that they can rely on. Every phase of business has its share of reliability issues. Bad customer care service can also reflect badly on the reliability issue and cause dissent.
Quality
End of day, quality is what matters. Quality of product, quality of service and quality of maintenance are stringent demands from customers from any industry. Slump in quality is not something that customers are ever happy about.
Innovations
The main reason customers shift loyalty is because of innovations with a competitor. Flat screen was huge once in the TV industry. And it wasn’t very long ago. Then came LCD’s. Now they are almost obsolete. Today, the world watches telly on plasma screens. And no one knows what comes next. Customers look for innovation in everything they buy. It is easy to lose business to a competitor if you don’t invest in innovation and research.
Knowing what the customer looks for
Apart from keeping track of what innovations peers offer and set customer expectations, it is also prudent to collect feedback from customers. Listen to their demands, however lofty they sound. A well documented report of customer demands is essential in understanding customer trends and demands. This should be done periodically to track whether customers are happy with previously carried out innovations and changes.
Periodic research on markets give us a perspective on what customer demands are evolving to be. Here is how you can learn about market expectations.
Customization
A major USP in any industry is to offer customization, according to customer demands. Developing products that facilitate customization is a good basic step here. According to the customer’s demands and needs, one can offer customizations to the product during time of sale.
Image Source: Computer World.
