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Give customers what they really want

Written by: Roger Pierce

Article Overview: It’s the golden rule of market research: Ask people what they want. “I learned that most Canadian men don’t like getting their hair cut,” says Sergio Medrano.

Give customers what they really want

It’s the golden rule of market research: Ask people what they want. “I learned that most Canadian men don’t like getting their hair cut,” says Sergio Medrano.

Medrano just opened ScoreCuts (www.scorecuts.com), a hair cutting place exclusively for men. Inside his first location at 250 Eglinton Ave. West, his male customers enjoy a truly unique hair cutting experience.

ScoreCuts is designed with guys in mind, featuring wall-to-wall television screens and the latest sports magazines. Customers can “kick back” in a self-adjustable electric massage barber chair and catch up on their favourite sports. Individual TVs at each cutting station play the latest games so customers don’t feel compelled to make small talk with stylists.

“Men told me that sitting next to some old lady in rollers, staring into a mirror and making idle chit-chat with a distracted stylist is not their idea of a good time,” explains Medrano.

To ensure his customers get the haircut they want during each visit, Medrano’s experienced female grooming coaches record each customer’s hair preferences. He also offers free “neck clean-ups” within 30 days of a haircut.

His market research in Canada revealed that men don’t enjoy the typical hair salon experience. Medrano paid attention to his research results, and decided to model his company on a very successful franchise in the United States that has over 500 locations and is exceeding the industry growth rate.

Medrano could have gone down a completely different career path. With a Masters Degree in Business and fluency in five languages - including Japanese - he could easily land a job with any large company. “Everybody in my family is a business person so entrepreneurship is in my blood,” he admits. “I love the challenge of organizing and building a small business that really works.”

Medrano says his first ScoreCuts is just the beginning. “I plan to open 50 locations during the next five years…we’ll get there by delivering one great haircut at a time!”

Conducting market research

No matter how great you think your small business idea is, you must test it by conducting thorough market research. Research involves asking your potential (or existing) customers first – before you launch a new product, open a store or change something within your business. Use the following tools to collect input:

* Surveys. Create a simple questionnaire to collect answers to your business questions. Ask potential or existing customers to comment on issues such as pricing, location, marketing, shopping times, delivery, budgets and competition. Start with open-ended questions and move to more specific ones.
* Focus Groups. Try to get a small group of potential customers together to discuss your business idea. Describe your business and what it intends to do, then ask participants for their comments. Guide but don’t lead the discussions. The goal is to glean insight into what people want and collect some new ideas.
* Secondary data. Check out your industry, the competition and assess market potential by gathering some secondary data. For example, someone opening a pet store will want to know how much money people spend on pets in Canada. Such information will give context to the primary data you collected from your surveys and focus groups. Government websites offer plenty of help at www.strategis.gc.ca or www.statscan.ca or www.cbsc.org.

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