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Understanding Customer Needs

Part of marketing is truly understanding customer needs. Find out how you can go beyond platitudes to offer true care and attention.

To provide a quality experience for your customers, you need to understand their needs. Only if you can respond to – or better yet, anticipate – their needs will they want to return to you in the future. All companies pay lip service to putting the customer first, but how many actually understand what it means to do this?

Meeting customers' needs doesn't mean handing the product or service they require, it also means establishing a positive relationship.

What might be called holistic customer needs typically include:

A sense that you value them and are giving them your undivided attention, whether their business is worth $5 or $5 million. There is nothing more likely to turn a customer off than the sense that you're in a hurry to finish with them because you're looking over their shoulder at a more important customer – or that you'd rather be filling in forms or doing your admin tasks than dealing with them.
A comfortable, non-pressured feeling. If you use "hard-sell" techniques, you might get customers to buy but you won't get repeat business. Instead of thinking about the immediate sale, think about the potential value of the customer over a lifetime. You might think that the person will never buy off you again, but even if that's true, their word of mouth could still be valuable.
A sense that you're not judging them. The way they dress and look, or their job position, should not influence the quality of attention you give them. Just about everyone has more influence than you expect.
A sense that you're genuinely interested in their needs. People will know on a sub-conscious level whether you're genuinely interested in them or whether you're faking it – and they'll respond either by showing loyalty or abandoning you.
A sense that you're listening to them. Few people are good listeners, so most of us need to work on this aspect – but those who pull it off really stand out. Listen with concentration and ignore outside distractions. Watch body language and try to use open gestures to show you've been listening. Use their name when you talk to someone, and summarize what they tell you: "If I've understood you correctly, you need. . . ."

Your overall aim here is to give your customers and clients a "quality experience" when they visit you, not just a quality purchase. All research on the topic suggests this is the way to ensure customers want to keep using your services and recommend you to others.
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