Do you really know who your customer is? Try our 4 tips on how to find out.
As your business grows, so does your customer base. Often who is buying your product is not who you thought it would be.
As you get your business started (or launch a new product), keep track of who is buying your product. And its easy to do. Here’s our four tips.
1) Keep in touch with your customer and understand their needs.
You can speak directly to customers at your market stall or food truck; through an e-newsletter; via social media; during tasting sessions at your retail outlets. or target existing social events your desired customer is attending and provide free samples of your product. Then remember to listen to their feedback and respond to it.
If you are still not sure - or are getting mixed messages, get in touch for a 1:1 coaching session so we can help you filter your information and focus on your core customers.
2) Establish a customer loyalty program
Well done if you have one already, just make sure you can keep data about your customers. And don’t forget to promote it while you seek feedback from your customers.
3) Work with your distributors and/or retail outlets.
Ask them if their customer base is changing, if they are seeking new product lines, or if have they noticed a trend for healthy / low sugar / paleo products etc. Then use that insight to review your product offering to see how you can respond to meet the customer’s needs.
(Don’t forget, if you are looking for new/alternative distributors that match your product, we can connect you, so get in touch).
4) Pay attention to the your website analytics; and adapt accordingly.
You can also access lots of data for free via Google, just by looking to see what people are searching for - what are the top rankings that relate to your food business/product range & can you adapt your offerings or promotion/marketing to suit?
There are lots of other ways to identify who your customer is, just make sure you can collect data to analyse for purchasing trends & identify your typical customer.
Knowing who your customer is, how your customer base is changing and identifying how to respond is critical for a food business. If you are not sure how to get started on tracking your customer, check out the free resources Small Business Victoria provide.
