Active Market Reseach
You've heard of market research to validate a new business idea, right?
Well, what about once you're already up and running?
Have you ever caught yourself trying to solve a problem or come up with a solution in regard to your current offerings or your customer experience?
Like - “should I offer a follow-up coaching call after a VIP day?”
That question leads to overthinking and too many wasted hours of me trying to figure out the “right” answer.
What could I do instead?
Ask my clients.
Seems like a simple thing, but we tend to forget to just ask.
Maybe it’s the fear of looking like we don’t know what we’re doing (uhhh do we though?!) or we just simply forget that we can ask.
A couple of examples of how this can play out:
A business owner has an app that costs a decent amount of money and wasn’t sure if it should be kept or not. So, they went to their newsletter and social media and did a survey to see if people actually utilized it and if they did, how. People immediately shared their buying habits with them.
Another business owner builds websites. They started to wonder if a launch package would be beneficial to help them share all their new goodness with the world. They asked on social media and guess what…got great responses!
Another business owner offers group coaching. With more time restraints the program needed to shift but they didn’t know how. So, they asked the clients and were able to work out a new plan that worked for everyone.
Our small business cultivator team saw some opportunities to educate our client's post-120 program. So, we asked our most recent client and she shared her honest feedback that was super helpful and affirmed our idea.
Is it a little nerve-racking to put yourself out there? Sure.
Do you have to be prepared to hear things you may not want to hear? Sure.
Will there be some feedback that’s just way off in left field? Sure. You can always determine what actually makes sense.
But, who else to help you determine how to move some parts of your business forward or adjust services/products than your current clients?
I call this active market research. You’re already in business but still open to learning how you can continue to solve your client’s pain points!
But - something important - if you’re going to ask for feedback be ready to actually make the changes your customers ask for. If you’re not going to make any changes then don’t ask…but also be ready to potentially lose them to someone who solves their pain points in the way they need them solved.
So, the next time you’re trying to determine a new product or service or to adjust your process for your clients - ask for feedback! You know people love to give it and your clients will really appreciate you asking!