Marketing & Brand Growth
The people who know why customers buy from you are the customers themselves. Have you asked?
Owners often have strong beliefs about what customers want, built from a few memorable cases. This session shows how to find out more systematically and respectfully: a few good conversations, better questions, the information already sitting in chats and records, and what to do with it.
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You are probably wrong about one or two things your customers care about.
Owners are close to their business and far from their customers' thinking. What you consider your main strength may not be why people choose you. What you consider a minor detail may be why others leave.
Customer research does not need a budget or a specialist. It needs a willingness to ask and listen, and a way to record and use what you hear.
What the session covers
36 topics across 7 areas. Seven parts, from who to ask to what to change.
Who to Talk ToA mix, not only your favourites.5
- Recent customers, while they still remember the decision
- Repeat customers, and why they return
- Customers who bought once and did not come back
- People who enquired but did not buy
- People who fit your customer but chose someone else
Start with five. Patterns often show up in the first handful of conversations.
Having a Useful ConversationListen more than you talk.5
- A short, friendly request that makes clear you are not selling
- Ten to twenty minutes, by phone or in person, at their convenience
- Asking open questions and staying quiet afterwards
- Asking about what they actually did, not what they would do
- Taking notes, with permission, in their words
Questions Worth AskingSmall set, repeated.5
- What was happening when you started looking?
- What else did you consider, and why did you choose us or not?
- What nearly stopped you?
- What was the best and worst part of the experience?
- What would you tell a friend about us, and what would you change?
Learning From Lost CustomersPainful, valuable and rare.5
- Approaching once, politely, without pressure to return
- Accepting any answer, including “price”, and asking what else
- Separating things you can fix from things you cannot
- Never arguing or defending
- Thanking them whatever they say
Many people will not reply. A few honest answers are worth the effort.
Mining What You Already HoldEvidence you did not have to ask for.5
- Questions customers ask repeatedly in messages and calls
- Common objections and the words used
- Complaints, returns and refunds, and their causes
- Which products, services and times sell, from your records
- Reading a sample of conversations for patterns, with customers' details treated carefully
Avoiding Bias and Handling Details CarefullyHonest answers need honest questions.6
- Not suggesting the answer you hope for
- Not asking only happy customers, or only the loudest
- Telling people why you are asking and how you will use their words
- Asking permission before quoting anyone by name
- Collecting only what you need, and keeping it secure
- Being cautious about rewards for taking part, which can shape the answers
Turning Findings Into ChangesResearch that is not used is waste.5
- Looking for what three or more people said independently
- Sorting findings into: fix, test, ignore for now
- Choosing one change for the next month
- Telling customers when you have acted on what they said
- Repeating the exercise every quarter
Exercises owners can do the same week
- List ten people to talk to, across recent, repeat and lost customers
- Message three of them and ask for fifteen minutes
- Prepare five questions, and rehearse them aloud
- Read thirty recent customer messages and list the repeating questions
- Choose one thing to change, and tell the person who suggested it
What this session is not
- A formal market-research methodology
- A way to collect contact details for promotions
- A substitute for a large-scale study where one is needed
- A promise that customers will tell you everything
How the session runs
A workshop of about two hours. The practitioner demonstrates a short customer conversation, and shows how leading and open questions give different answers. Participants then practise in pairs, one as owner and one as customer, and draft their own list of people and questions. A short discussion covers how to record notes and look after any personal information collected.
What your students leave with
- A list of customers and near-customers they can approach for a conversation
- A short set of questions that produce useful answers
- A way to learn from people who enquired but did not buy
- A method for finding patterns in the information they already have
- Habits that avoid leading questions and handle details with care
- At least one change to try, based on what customers said
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Ask the customers. Then change something.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.