In business, it’s easy to prattle on about yourself, your products and services. The problem is, in our uber-competitive world, talking about yourself to customers is exactly what won’t win you business.

We are now living in the age of the informed consumer thanks to the internet, and this means you cannot expect customers to be floored by your firm’s extensive range of features and benefits. Your marketing needs something extra, and it’s critical customers are put at the centre of your research and planning.

Understand why customers buy from you

CoreData’s research shows most consumers use the internet to do their research before they ever approach you or your sales team. Therefore, they know plenty about you – but do you know as much about them? Being a truly customer centric business means having a solid fact-based understanding of their buying behaviour from the first point of contact. Without this level of knowledge, you’ll be taking a stab in the dark, and be forced to make assumptions about their buying behaviour.

Likewise, market research can also identify what your ‘ideal’ customer looks like. By this we mean customers that are best suited to your offering and who will be valuable to your business. A solid research-based program will unearth real insights about your customer base, which can direct your messaging.

Focus on outcomes

Ultimately, customers want outcomes. Therefore, you need to look beyond the product or service you’re offering and consider why customers are buying from your business. It might sound trite, but customers are seeking a feeling that you understand them, their challenges and that you can provide them with tailored solutions. To this end, the best businesses think in terms of the pain points they are solving for their customers.

Listen to how a customer wants to interact with you

As we transition further into the digital world, customers are changing the way they want to interact with your products and services.

The truly customer centric businesses will see and hear these trends, and by using specific customer data, will adapt the way they go-to-market. Banking is a case in point. How many times have you visited a bank branch in recent years? The shift to mobile banking shows how technology, combined with an understanding of customer buying behaviour, can revolutionise an industry. Like the banks, other industries are increasingly identifying this change and making the move online too.