Research Your Way Through A Recession

The global financial crisis is weakening both consumer confidence and the consumer spending. I don’t know about you but I see the importance of researching the customers more when making marketing plans or whenever I make a strategic marketing move.

Instead of cutting the market research budget, you need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Price elasticity curves are changing. Consumers take more time searching for durable goods and negotiate harder at the point of sale. They are more willing to postpone purchases, trade down, or buy less. Must-have features of yesterday are today’s can-live-withouts. Trusted brands are especially valued and they can still launch new products successfully, but interest in new brands and new categories fades. Noticeable consumption becomes less prevalent.

Listen and get engaged with your customers.

What’s the process in creating customer value?

First is to eliminate the activities in your product or service that do not add value. Weed out the non-essential factors and focus on what’s important to your customers. You’ve got nothing to loose. The process of value creating during value analysis is the starting point for determining the underlying process of value creation.

Here’s why the process analysis is important.

1. It improves the features of the product or service

2. Reduces costs

3. Maintain or improve quality

4. Eliminates guessing 

5. Improves product positioning

Avoid trial and error. Eliminate activities that do not create value and redesign the process if necessary to improve value. 

Any experience you would like to share?

A business with a purpose: Find out what your customers buy

To come to grips with your business purpose and mission is to understand what is value to your customers. Usually we think of quality and price as key purchase factors. Quality is a given, no one buys an inferior product or buys something without a percieved value.

Actually a customer never buys a product. The customer buys the satisfaction of a want. Example, in my case I want my shirt that has a nice fit and design. 

A smart marketer never guesses on what his customer needs and wants. It’s great to have ideas but we should always go back to the customer and ask- “What do my customers consider most valuable about my product and service I provide?”  In case you don’t know find out. Do some consumer research and ask if youre delivering.