The only predictable thing about your business is changing customers. That’s frightening! Because there are so many unpredictable things in today’s business world.
In fact, changing customers can cause havoc with your trusted and tested business models. Indeed, they can destroy them quickly and disruptively. Or changing customers can destroy them over time…
After all, you need not to be caught off guard or let your business dies a slow death because the behavior of your customers has changed. In fact, if you’re closely, and regularly monitor the behavioral trends of your customers, you might keep up with their needs, wants and motivations.
However, being one step behind your customers buying behavior will probably be not good enough. You should surprise them and let them know that you know what they’re going to buy even before they’ve realized it themselves.
So, let see how you can predict and manage your changing customers.
Changing customers are the result of competition in the marketplace
Everything about your product offering is the same as your competitor – similar prices, models, service level etc. But, your competitor keeps ‘stealing’ your customers. So, what on earth makes your competitor better than you?
Can it be that the customers that have deserted you are enjoying a better buying experience at your competitor’s shop?
Indeed, your competitor has made the time to learn more about the buyers of your products in the marketplace. She has probably found that her and your customer’s perception of great experiences has changed over time.
Additionally, she’d learned that what they define of what is enjoyable, easy and useful has lifted their level of expectation tremendously. Even more, she’d develop a strategy and plans of action to meet the customer’s higher expectations about their shopping experience.
That’s why most of your customers are now buying from her, your competitor…
Changing customers enjoy using digital technology for enhanced shopping experiences
Over the last decade, digital technologies enabled completely new customer journeys. Deborah Nas writing in Medium mentioned the following five technologies that help to enhance customer experience:
Personalization
You have an opportunity to exceed your customer’s expectations by following a personalized approach. So, if you know what your individual customer’s product preferences are, then you can use automation and AI (Artificial Intelligence) to get the attention of that customer.
Simplicity
Today’s changing customers hate red tape and too many steps to follow. By making intelligent use of AI, you can help your customer to do the transactions without effort. Offering seamless transactions will be a good experience for your customers.
Changing customers like to do business anywhere, any time
Technology allows you to make your service available anytime, anywhere, and seamlessly across devices. After all, we live in an interconnected world, and customers expect to have the same experience 24/7 wherever they go.
Offer more value for your customers
Your customers are getting used to products and services that are increasingly getting faster, more precise, more intelligent, and more powerful than before. This evolution is continuously changing expectations.
Therefore, make sure that you can offer these advanced products to your customers. Indeed, if they enjoy a good experience with these products, they will come back for more…
Offer products with new functionalities
Advances in digital technology renders the opportunity to redesign existing products to deliver a more useful experience for your customers. If you want to enhance your customer’s experience this way, you need to have a thorough knowledge about your customers.
As a result, you need to identify and address the latent needs of your customers and also educate them about that.
Concluding
Changing customers is not a new phenomenon. However, the advent of the internet and advances in digital technology have revolutionized buyer behavior.
For that reason, business owners should start knowing their customers on an individual level. Even more, you need to know what technology to use to improve your customer’s experience.
Keeping up with new technology is expensive. But do you have a choice?
Read more: What will Enhance Online Customer Experience?
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