Today is the day you start to think like a customer and act like an owner. Why? Because without your customers, you wouldn’t have a business. But also because without an owner, your business wouldn’t exist either. Kind of like a two-edged sword, running a business is a juggling act. You need to meet the needs of your customers or clients, but also those of your employees and the business itself. Today I’m going to explore with you ways in which you can think like a customer to develop your business further.

Why You Should Think Like a Customer When You’re a Business Owner

As a business owner, you want your business to be profitable. Sure, you want to own it because it’s your passion, you enjoy doing it and helping others. But you also want it to be profitable. Often this means we try to push our products and services hard to potential customers. The problem is though, that we’re thinking as an owner, not a customer.

As consumers, we’re automatically put off by hard sells. We want to be able to make our own decisions, not be pressured by salespeople. We also want the products and services which suit us best. To help our customers, we need to think like them.

How to Think Like a Customer, But Act Like a Business Owner

A customer goes through six steps before taking out their wallet for you. They are:

• Product awareness
• Product knowledge
• Liking the product
• Prefer your product over others
• Decision your product is worth buying
• Making the purchase

In order to help them through these six steps, you need to understand your customers. This requires you to:

• Go where your customer is. For instance, engaging with them on the social media platform they prefer.
• Identify what your customer wants to talk about. This means sharing with them, topics they want to learn more about, not just sharing your products or services.
• Finding out what your customer wants. What ‘deal’ can you offer them that is irresistible? It may be a special discount but can also be a product or service they can’t get elsewhere.

You’ll need to put yourself in their shoes. What do they want from you? How can you give them more of that? What hassles do they face and how can we eliminate those? Where will they go to get your help? What is your customer service like? How do your products stack up against your competition? Are you keeping up to date in your industry? Do you provide a customer experience which defines your brand every step of the way?

Know your Customer. Grow Your Business

By being able to see what your customers are seeing, you can improve the experience your business provides to your customers. This goes a long way in improving brand loyalty and humanising your business. From here, it’s all about keeping your customer’s needs at the front of your mind and enjoying the rewards.

Let’s have a chat about how you can improve your business by thinking like a customer. Give me a call today and let’s get started!