How to Grow Your Business – Top Tip # 6 – React to What the Market Wants

Posted by Bennie Groenewald on 12 April 2018.



Bennie Groenewald

LLM Tax Law, B.Proc, HDip Tax

The Tax Shop Head Office

More about Bennie Groenewald

After having qualified and practiced as a Commercial lawyer Bennie worked in the Banking and Financial services industry for 25 years across multiple market segments in South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and the UK, the last 14 years of which in senior and executive leadership positions. During this time, he dealt extensively with cross-border banking and finance including project finance, asset finance, debt capital markets and derivatives, including the legal aspects thereof. In recent years, Bennie has played an active leading role in investment, credit and risk management as well as sound corporate governance.

Customers want to associate with the person behind the business product or service.

Share your journey, vision, goals and personal story of inspiration. They will reward your personal attention to your brand.

Be individual and your personal self when communicating with your customers and create a story around your offering. The market perceives your personal touch as a business with a soul.

Be vigilant to what is happening in your market environment. The quicker you can recognize and adapt to market changes, the better. So, the tip is to keep the power of creativity on your side.

It is a known fact that today consumers are using social media or other means to do their own research before they will decide on a product or service provider. Business should be responding to this and ensure that they meet prospective customers on that search platform, establishing a striking first engagement and early interaction with customers in the public space. Today’s customers seek a relationship with people they trust not corporate marketing. It is through direct conversations between business and customers via social media that brands will win in 2018.” – Tim Hughes, Co-Founder @Digital Leadership Associates.

Consumers are increasingly seeking flexibility in their lifestyles, for example the entrepreneurial characteristic of millennials is shifting them away from the “traditional” 9-to-5 career and towards one that affords more freedom.

By understanding what your customers want and reacting to their needs quicker than your competitors can give you a crucial advantage in a tough market. A word of caution, when customers get marketing and promotional messages from brands that aren’t relevant to them, they get annoyed and may even be turned off from ever patronizing that brand.

What business need is a message that is also tailored to the context of what the consumers’ needs are in the moment. What problems does that customer have? How can you create value by solving others’ “headaches”? The customer wants to know that you understand them, and a business that can demonstrate a deep level of understanding, will succeed.

A final word of advice is to engage with customers without irritating them. Building a dialogue with customers across multiple channels while staying relevant and not indiscriminately blasting them is the key to success.

BACK TO BLOG