Voice of the Customer: Why It's Better to Ask Than Assume

Hear that?  That faint voice?  It's your customer telling you what s/he wants.  You should listen! 

If you want your message to sink in, you need to understand what's important to prospective buyers.

You may think you know what's important. And you may be right. But why not ask and confirm your thinking? You'll get your information "straight from the horse's mouth," and you'll avoid relying on assumptions.   (You know what they same about assumptions.)

You may need to invest in (GASP) research -- voice of the customer research.  Before you run away, screaming, "Too expensive!" let me point out two things:

1.  The consequences of assuming wrong outweigh the cost of research
2.  You can scale your research and its cost to the size of your audience

Here's what I mean.  If you're marketing fast food, your audience is huge, and you need Research with a capital "R."  Planned.  Run by experts.  Good info with a big price tag.

But most of us work in small niches where you can do small "r" research. Think of 5-10 questions that will help pinpoint hot buttons. Call your top customers and prospects and ask away. You'll have great conversations, and you'll learn something each time you talk to someone. Develop a matrix of the answers and learn even more.

Now that you've listened to your customers, you're well on your way to developing your brand identity.