In order to keep and grow your business, nurturing and maintaining your customer base is the quintessential building block to longevity and positive profit margins. But how do you do this? Do you know how to reach and communicate with your most valued-customers and entice them to buy from you? Before grocers can answer that question, they have to know WHO their customers are and what compels them to make purchases. Most businesses will know the bare demographic profile of a typical customer based on gender, age and household income…But in order to gain trust and lifetime loyalty of that same customer, more information is needed. Stores that know the wants and needs of their customers will always stay on the pathway of success. For those that have not harnessed the power of customer relationships will soon realize this is what will set them apart from their competition and also give them the confidence to compete against big-chain box stores in their area.
Know Your Customers In and Out
Companies that know their customers in-depth are very successful. On the other side of the coin, those that don’t, fail miserably. If you don’t know those who purchase from your store, you are already wasting valuable dollars with tight margins. By building out your customer profiles, you will ultimately be creating a winning marketing and sales plan that brings profits to your store without having to do the extra work yourself or hire large firms to do it for you.
In addition to basic demographic information, store owners should also know other personal data such as: interests, hobbies, daily activities, professions, education, marital status, household make-up, likes and dislikes. When you are equipped with this type of knowledge, you can better tailor your messages to serve specific needs and wants that speak directly to your customers without the need to guess.
Depending on your market, store and location, you could be looking at very different core customer bases. And you need to know this. You’ll keep and gain new customers by showing that you understand them and can provide for their values and priorities.
Then naturally the next question is how do you obtain this information?
Using a mobile solution that captures this data can help the independent grocer tremendously in this feat. Once the data is captured, the solution will allow you to communicate directly and in real-time with your customer base at any given time throughout the sales process. The best mobile solution will also offer analytics and help you better target high-value customers. But you must know your customers first before you can target them properly.
As a business owner, it’s necessary to take advantage of a solution that will help you understand and build your customer base and knowledge. Such a solution will put you ahead of the game, in front of your competition and set you up for success for many years to come.
