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Every day, business owners must always ask themselves: What do my customers want? As simple as this question sounds, it can rattle the brightest minds in the boardroom. The truth is that you are not into business to serve yourself, you are there to meet the needs of customers. Customers are the life-wire of every business. Having an innovative and top-notch product will not matter if your customer base is shrinking drastically. If you can no longer meet their needs in no time you will be out of business. Furthermore, customers are out to get the best product or service. They want value for their money. Sometimes, a bad experience in the past can make them very critical in their consumer behaviour. 
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  Knowing what your customers want and fulfilling their wants is the first step to retaining customer loyalty. However, retaining is not a walk in the park. It takes tons of insight and actions. Nonetheless, in this article, I am going to show you the 4 most important things every customer wants.
  1. Every Customer Wants To Be Understood All The Time.
Customers are susceptible to change when it comes to what they want. As a business owner you must know that change is constant, so are your customers’ wants. Every customer loves to be understood as they are prone to changing their taste for a product. For example, a customer’s taste changes as his status changes. He might have been your customer since he was a youth in high school, as he proceeds to get employed, married and have children, he is bound to change his taste. There is always an ever-changing requirement in the demands of customers. Sometimes, the invention of a new technology may change your customers’ wants. Or a competition might be bringing in some innovation into the market which your customers might be attracted to.  Therefore, as a business owner, knowing these changes in consumer behaviour is something you must understand in order to retain consumer loyalty. It goes beyond taking a survey. It will require you to create a suggestion box where customers can offer suggestions. It means positioning every customer-contact person as a critical listening post, a scout able to gather helpful intelligence report about shoppers’ ever-changing wants as well as provide early warning about consumer issues.
  1. Every Customer Wants To Be Included.
Customers are loyal to companies that make them part of the service process. Giving customers valuable insights into what you’re doing at your company and how their role as stakeholders in the company can give them a sense of belongingness, is vital. Giving customers some sense of inclusiveness is by having a top of the face CRM (customer relationship management). Apple Inc., one of the most valuable companies in the world have successfully created a fandom among their customers through insightful engagements, such as giving them snippets of their new products and how they are at the heart of the production process.  
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  1. Every Customer Wants To Be Protected From Fear And Anxiety.
One of the most continuous justifications customers don’t buy something – especially a costly or extraordinary product – is anxiety about whether or not it will work as it should. Concerns that getting an answer from the company might be difficult if the product doesn’t work as it should, also come into play. Customer anxiety spells out in many ways. It is common to hear customers express worry over durability, reliability, longevity and quality. The best company to learn from if you want to douse consumer fears and anxiety is Apple Inc. Apple neutralizes customer anxiety through its customer service, letting clients know that for any product they buy, they’ll receive the support they need to its fullest. Customers are making the purchase based not just on the quality of a product, but on the quality of the service that accompanies it. For instance, the company offers a 1-year warranty on all its products, and also offers to repair the products at no extra charge, or replace them with a free product if they malfunction during the warranty period. In addition, buying from Apple also doesn’t feel like a risky experience to people merely because of the huge network of retail stores Apple operates. If there are any issues with their product, people know they can easily make a reservation at their local Genius Bar, and take the product in for support.
  1. Every Customer Wants To Be Surprised.
Surprising your customers show that you care about them. Most often, a simple “Thank You” note can put a smile on a customer’s face. Aside from this, introducing a new feature on your product can exit your customers. When you are constantly using innovation as a means of surprising your customers and keeping them excited, you are bound to retain their loyalty. Adding a few features to an app can excite more than its core functions.  Featured image: StartUpNation
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This article was first published on 2nd February 2022

nnaemeka-emmanuel

Nnaemeka is an academic scholar with a degree in History and International Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a creative writer, content creator, storyteller, and social analyst.

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