You need to understand your customers now more than ever
With the UK Government officially announcing the widely anticipated extension of the lockdown, we are all continuing to adjust to significant lifestyle changes.
If you run a business, your customers habits and behaviours are highly likely to have changed dramatically. Arguably, everything you previously knew or assumed about your customer has shifted.
Let me explain, using myself (and you, if you're willing to play along) as the case examples...
Hierarchy of Needs
Take a look at Maslow's “Hierarchy of Needs” (something from my Manchester Business School days).
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Abraham Maslow is the father of Psychology in Business Management and in 1943 he published his enduring thesis. In short, he said that all people have five fundamental types of needs, and the most essential core-need—the Physiological ones of food, water and sleep—have to be satisfied before we seek the next need-type, Safety. After that it’s Sociality, then Self Esteem, and the final need, Self Actualisation, is the fulfilling of one’s potential.
Many of us have been fortunate enough to have had our four core needs met for the majority of our lives, allowing us to focus on this fifth need. But suddenly, through the current crisis, the pursuit of our ambitions—be it running a business, travel or maybe doing something creative like performing live—have been put on hold. For those in a less fortunate situation, the crisis may have affected people’s ability to fulfil more fundamental needs. Essentially, regardless of economic situation, people’s lifestyle and needs have dramatically changed.
The Nuance To Our Needs
From my personal experience, one major change to my lifestyle (as with many others) has been the permanent switch to #WFH.
The obvious adjustment here is that I’m no longer commuting for up to 2 hours a day from South London to The City. But what does this really mean in terms of my behaviour as a “customer”?
I’m not spending £10 a day / £50 a week / £200 a month on travel. Theoretically, then, there is an extra (spendable) cash in the bank and I have 10 hours a week extra time on my hands.
On my commute I often tune into podcasts, but now that I am at home I am not listening to them as much.
Now I’m not eating out and grabbing food on the go for possibly up to 10-12 meals a week, I’m having to replace them at home.
By reflecting on my own experience I’ve established several behaviour changes that are affecting me both positively and negatively:
My spending habits.
The amount of time I have.
What news/culture I’m consuming.
What food I’m eating.
These are all pretty important fundamental needs of mine.
Conceivably, many of you reading will identify with these behaviour changes because we are all experiencing the similar effects of the lockdown by having to WFH.
However, it is highly likely that as unique individuals we are all fulfilling these empty spaces with completely different products, services and routines.
Here’s a few simple questions for you to think about (or, even better, post your answers in the comments)...
What are you spending your travel budget on or are you saving it?
What are you doing with that stolen-commuter time? Are you learning a new skill or do you find yourself working more than normal? Maybe you're doing DIY, or watching a lot of movies, or simply sleeping more.
What content are you consuming and from where? Are they different from your normal habits?
Has your weekly supermarket shop increased significantly? What different items are on there? Or have you started a meal plan subscription or a Deliveroo addiction?
Speak To Your Customers
Clearly, thinking about one’s own lifestyle changes under the lockdown reveals a lot about the product and service opportunities to you, “the customer”. But we should not assume that other people are doing the same as ourselves.
I sometimes find that business owners are quite reluctant to talk to their existing or potential customers because they think they know their market well enough already or that they're fixing their own problem and that therefore they know best.
Of course, this is untrue at the best of times.
But during the current crisis, and I cannot overstate this enough: Whatever you thought you knew about customers has changed.
As we are all practicing self-isolation, speaking to people might sound like controversial
advice, but speaking to people is (potentially) easier than ever. At the moment, we know where most of our customers are: at home and easily accessible via video conferencing.
I recommend you speak to your existing customers and find out about their current lifestyle changes and how this is affecting their relationship with:
a) the problem you are trying to solve
b) the product and service you provide
c) all the little nuances in between
If you need help or advice on finding out what your customers are really thinking and how they are really behaving, reach out to me on nana@tectoniclondon.com. We can help you gather vital insights that will empower your business decisions in these rapidly changing times.
