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Market Research: Increasing Your Selling Power

Guest post by: Michele DeKinder-Smith

Article Overview: When a female entrepreneur has defined her ideal customers and her ideal customers’ desires and needs, and she’s brought them to her web site or store, it’s time for her to find out even more – specifically, what leads them to buy from her, and what leads them to walk away. By completing this component of market research, an entrepreneur can increase her sales – and also develop ongoing customer loyalty.

Market Research: Increasing Your Selling Power

When a female entrepreneur has defined her ideal customers and her ideal customers' desires and needs, and she's brought them to her web site or store, it's time for her to find out even more - specifically, what leads to them buying from her, and what leads to them walking away. By completing this component of market research, an entrepreneur can increase her sales - and also develop ongoing customer loyalty.

Once a woman business owner has given her potential customers the opportunity to buy, it's a good idea to find out even more about them - whether they end up buying or not.

It's key to find out why a customer didn't buy - was it the price? Did they need to think about it? Did they feel like the concept or delivery was off? Was it geography or timing? Uncover all the barriers that prevented the customer from buying. Understanding why a customer didn't buy is crucial, because it allows the entrepreneur to structure her marketing to blast through those barriers in the future.

On the other hand, it is absolutely imperative to discover why a customer did buy - and once he or she did, which product or service benefits best served him or her. Key in on how the product or service stacked up to the customer's expectations of what was promised. When an entrepreneur knows how she is serving her customers, she can then enhance existing products or services - and develop new ones - to create long-term buying opportunities and customer loyalty as she continues to meet customer needs.

Remember Tina, the purse designer who designed a trendy purse loaded with special compartments to help keep her ideal customer organized? She'd created a hot pink purse with a PDA pocket and a key hook for Sarah, the 38-year-old mother of three who loves to be part of her children's activities and volunteers at their schools several times per month.

Once Sarah has had the chance to get some use out of her stylish and useful purse, Tina sends her a survey, asking which features of the purse she liked best, and which she could do without. From Sarah's answers, Tina learns that Sarah loves the PDA pocket, the key hook and the color-coordinated file folder - and of course, she adores the fashionable color and fabric of the purse. And surprise - Sarah is expecting her fourth child and will now work from home! She's been looking everywhere for a larger bag that can accommodate diapers, wipes, bottles, and everything else a baby needs - in addition to everything she needs to carry for her job - but can't find one!

This is the perfect opportunity for Tina to create a new product - a larger bag with a variety of pockets and compartments in addition to what Sarah's original purse contained.

By keeping in touch with customers (and potential customers who didn't end up buying), female entrepreneurs create a tremendous opportunity to make more sales and to continue working with established customers by continuing to meet their changing needs.

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Article Tags: consumer research, female entrepreneurs, market research, researching customers, small business growth, women business owners
Referred by: http://www.MichelePW.com



Related Forum Posts
Business magazines - Fast Company is pretty good if you're into technology although it can be very on the edge. Entrepreneur has become one giant advertisement and I cancelled my subscription. Selling Power also has some useful content if you're looking at improving your sales skills / presentations.
Women Entrepreneur Tips - Thank you LeoOliveros, I found #4 particularly true in my case: 4. The Enterprise Must Include the Power of Power Networks. As a conductor of your own enterprise, you can not see yourself as a one-woman-show. You must choose to utilize the power people in your life, by asking for help when you need it, and effectively delegating in order to capitalize on your strengths and that of your power network. When certain experts are not represented in your power network, you must actively seek advisors or mentors and develop a team of specialists, so the benefits are received by everyone involved in the power network - the true Power of Power Networks.
Re: How should i promote a new website? - ignore this message IF it's already been stated. I haven't had a chance to read all the replies and i have to jet from the office... I suggest marketing where ever your Target Market congregates. If it's a forum of concerned parents - go there. Strike up a deal with the forum owner (JV) and have him promote it to the list of members (Integration Marketing). If you want to go with Forums then i would partner with a parent who is a frequent poster/moderator on a particular Target Market Forum and have him/her add your link to their signature. That was just a thought but it's not as intense once you get buy in from the Forum owner or high ranked poster/moderator. Hope that sparks some new ideas.
Re: Ideas For Business - Hello Lucy, you may consider this list for Ideas for Business: (Top 23 list) Rank Company 1 Google 2 Genentech 3 Wegmans Food Markets 4 Container Store 5 Whole Foods Market 6 Network Appliance 7 S.C. Johnson & Son 8 Boston Consulting Grp. 9 Methodist Hospital Sys. 10 W.L. Gore & Associates 11 Cisco Systems 12 David Weekley Homes 13 Nugget Market 14 Qualcomm 15 American Century Invest. 16 Starbucks Coffee 17 Quicken Loans 18 Station Casinos 19 Alston & Bird 20 QuikTrip 21 Griffin Hospital 22 Valero Energy 23 Vision Service Plan
Re: Do Women Play the Stock Market? - I also play Stock Market.....


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