Errol D. Allen
In today’s marketplace, customers have multiple methods to interact and/or purchase goods and services. It’s important to have a clear understanding of your customer’s habits as it assists in developing products and services, marketing methods, and customer service strategies. Most of us were taught a simple method of gaining information back in elementary school – ask, “Who? What? When? Where? How? and Why?” These basic questions are invaluable for gaining customer insights. My analytical side takes over on this topic! Let’s take a look at these questions.
Who? – The first step is determining who your customer is. It’s important to obtain as much information as possible about your individual customers. Gender, age, and location are just a few items to capture about your customers. One can then determine purchasing habits of particular age groups; male versus female in those age groups and locations of males and females in those particular age groups. The results can be invaluable when determining who’s utilizing your products/services.
What? – Now let’s add the next question – What do my customers want? To gather insights for this question, add “What?” to “Who?” What are your customers of either gender purchasing? What are your customers of particular age groups purchasing? What are your customers of either gender in particular age groups purchasing? What are your customers of either gender in a particular age group from a particular area purchasing? What are your customers of a particular age group requiring assistance with when calling your organization? Of what particular gender or age group are the customers requiring the most assistance? These are just a few insights one can gain by asking the “What?” question.
When? – The next insight question to add to the “Who?” and “What?” is “When?” When are your customers purchasing your products/services? When are particular age groups purchasing your products/services? When are your customers of a particular gender within a specific age group purchasing a particular product or service? When are customers visiting your brick and mortar locations to conduct business? When are customers of a particular gender within a particular age group visiting your brick and mortar locations?
Where? – Okay, now let’s ask the next insight question – “Where?” Where are your customers purchasing your products/services? Where are your customers of a particular age group purchasing your products/services? Is there a preferred location or are they purchasing online? Are females more apt to purchase online than males? Which age group prefers to purchase online? Answering these questions can assist in aligning customer experience strategies with customer behavior.
How? – This insight question seeks to determine how your customer chooses to do business with you. Is a particular age group utilizing the mobile phone to interact? What about a particular gender within an age group? Are females between the ages of 25 to 40 utilizing mobile phones more than females in a different age group when conducting business with your company? Are males in a particular age group making online purchases from the laptops versus their mobile phones? How are customers choosing to complain? Are they emailing or calling? Which age group prefers emailing? Which gender prefers calling? Which age group prefers to utilize your web chat channel to communicate? The answers to “How?” helps one to develop methods to reach those customers as well as develop customer experience strategies for those channels.
Why? – To get answers to this question requires interaction with the customer. You can accomplish this via surveys or personal interaction. Seek to gain insights – Why are customers of a particular gender more likely to purchase online versus visiting your brick and mortar location? Why does a customer choose a specific location over others? Why does a specific age group prefer to make reservations via your mobile website versus making a phone call? Why does a specific gender within a specific age group utilize your web chat channel to request assistance? In knowing the “Why?”, an organization gains insight into the way its customers think when making decisions to utilize your products or services.
Remember, in order to gain insight into your customer’s behavior just begin with elementary questions – “Who? What? When? Where? How? and Why?”
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Errol Allen – Customer Service Engineer can be emailed at errol@errolallenconsulting.com or call him at 1-800-830-4167. www.errolallenconsulting.com
