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INTERNET MARKET RESEARCH -- WHAT IS YOUR CUSTOMER SAYING!
Have you ever launched a new product, service or offer and KNEW it would succeed and then it failed? Have you started one or more companies that offered a better product, no - a "GREAT PRODUCT" at a cheaper price and the "weaker" competitor still beat you? Are you a great sales person, yet are being somehow outwitted by far inferior sales techniques constantly? It is definitely a frustrating experience - no question about it.
Would you like to know exactly what the problem really is? What the not so obvious solution is? Would it surprise you to know that the Internet IS DESIGNED to resolve this barrier to unstoppable success?
By this time you may be asking what my qualifications are to write this report. My name is Bob and my partner is Laura. I have been involved in building several cutting-edge companies in the publishing, telecommunications and high tech industries; and my partner, Laura, has a finance background and was one of the pioneers in the on-line music arena.
Within months of starting our new company, In Touch Media Group (known then as Data Resource Consulting), we had one of the largest permission-based, email databases in the world. We have been featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, CNN Financial News, Tech TV, National Public Radio and many other media outlets. We have been invited by the Federal Trade Commission to attend the first email marketing conference that was trying to establish guidelines for the email industry. With that said, we have a good understanding about how to help companies of EVERY POSSIBLE type because we HAVE ALREADY DONE SO MANY TIMES.
Your first lesson is this:
OPEN YOUR MIND TO SIMPLE SOLUTIONS!
If you are ready to explore new ground, continue on.
WHO SHOULD BE TALKING?
One of the weaknesses of nearly every one I know is that they would rather talk than listen. Have you ever been in a conversation or sales pitch where the other person or persons were talking and instead of HEARING what they were saying, you were THINKING of what you were going to say? In sales, in marketing, in developing an offer, nearly everyone does the same thing:
THEY PUSH THEIR IDEA OR CONCEPT
REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE CUSTOMER THINKS.
Now that is a pretty simple error, isn't it? Ultimately, the OTHER PERSON has the LAST WORD on any commercial transaction. Despite this very obvious fact, the emphasis in most sales pitches or marketing offers is on the presentation, not on what the customer thinks.
Would you like to understand the correct cycle of action? Customer first - offer second. The more time you take learning about what your customer thinks and feels, the more likely you are to know what to say or what to offer.
WHY LEARN WHAT THEY THINK?
Have you ever listened to a great public speaker? Remember when a sales person really caught your attention? How about a politician who really hits the mark in a stump speech? These guys just get you. The common thread that runs through all of these presentations is this - they seemed to really understand what you are feeling and thinking. Most public or motivational speakers appear dozens, if not hundreds of times a year in front of crowds of people. Because of experience alone, after giving the same talk many times, they KNOW what turns the audience on.
Same goes with a great sales person. The really good ones ask their customers questions and really listen to the answers, all the time. They are constantly adjusting and improving their pitch.
Now you already know politicians run polls constantly about virtually every position they take. Some people quarrel with this point, but the fact is that by constantly asking their constituents what they think, an effective politician can build a great stump speech.
Now let's learn more about how they apply what they learn from customers.
THE ART OF LISTENING
People like to be listened to and respond to presentations, sales pitches and product offers that speak to what their needs are. You can't find out what someone needs unless you ask. People inherently know when someone HAS LISTENED TO THEM AND IS RESPONDING TO THEIR NEEDS. If you learn one thing from this report, it is that fact.
Here is how you can listen in terms of a business environment:
Step One: Before you ask a question, clear your thoughts of any preconceived notions you may have about the subject you are addressing. Preconceived notions and prejudices are the blinders that stop "real" hearing, learning and understanding.
Step Two: When the response to your question is coming back, make sure you fully understand what is being said.
Step Three: Do not rationalize, bend or otherwise alter the answer to your question. Take the answers at face value. This is where preconceived notions can, once again, creep in and "corrupt" the answer.
Step Four: Let the person know you understood what they said by fully acknowledging them. In an advertising piece, you do this by including the answer to your customer's question in the offer, the copywriting and in the product or service pricing.
Do the above with enough customers and you will know what to say to them. The question at this point is - how does one apply this "listening technology" to many, many people.
INTERNET BASED MARKET RESEARCH
The art of listening, on a large scale, can be accomplished through the use of internet based market research system. Some companies, such as In Touch Media Group, have built large databases of people who they can swiftly survey. This is somewhat similar to the way Nielsen surveys television viewers. They get information from a very large group of people. If a company owns a substantial "survey takers" database, one can quickly question a large portion of people about what they want and expect from a service or offer. By doing this you are in effect listening. When a company is truly listening they can succeed.
Bruce Prokopets
Executive Editor
Press Direct International
www.pressdirectinternational.org
About the author:
www.intouchmediagroup.com