Retail - The customer centric business
By Dave Soteros

It may seem strange but my experience is that most business owners do not consider their customers when making decisions. Typically they are so caught up the tactical day-to-day activities that they serve their own needs over their customers. Some don?t even acknowledge that their customer?s needs weren?t met as they watch them walk out of their store empty handed. How many of us have felt like the invisible man when out shopping, or worse, felt like we were a nuisance for wanting their products or services.
Even if the customer does buy some business owners don?t know why.
Customer loyalty is more difficult today because consumers have greater access to competition and information for comparison-shopping via the Internet.
So what can you do to be a successful business? Success in business requires intuitive judgment as well as customer research.

There are 3 keys to business success:
1. Know your customers
2. Know why your customers buy
3. Know your competitors

Who are your customers?
Demographics is the study of where your customers live, their age, how much money they make etc? The purpose of demographics is to help business owners define their target customer. If you knew that most of your customers lived in a defined area of your community you would know where to spend your advertising dollars and where your business should be located. If you knew they were 30-40 years of age you wouldn?t bother hiring Britney Spears to endorse your business. Of course, if you knew that your customers where in a high-income bracket you could charge more for your products or services.
Survey your customers and prospects either directly at time of purchase or by promotions or giveaways where completing a survey

Why do your customers buy?
Psychographics is the study of why your customers buy.
It's critical to understand your customers' emotional attachment to your product or business.
When your customer sees a candle, it's not the wax or the wick they see it is what the candle personally represents to them. It's the feeling they get when they picture this formation of wax and string in their lives. The candle could represent relaxation, romance, fulfillment, comfort etc?. 
If purchasing decisions are emotional and not logical why do customers buy from you over your competitors? Is the relationship a customer has with a store emotional as well? I can tell you that it is and you know it is. Think about your favorite store and why it is your favorite store. Why do you choose that store over the rest? Logically it is the location, trust, quality, values, beliefs, service, brand image, the people etc... Ultimately the logical reasons instill an emotional feeling about that store. You feel good about doing business with that store.
What are you doing to engage customers and change their feelings regarding your store?
What does the salesperson say to a customer walking into their retail store? The salesperson says, "May I help you". Where have you heard that before? And you respond, "No thanks, just looking." In fact it's a universal phenomenon.
Now why do you suppose the salesperson asks that question when he knows what the customer will say? If you could increase sales by 10% by asking something other than "Can I help you" would you do it?
What if you asked if they had ever been in the store before? If the answer was yes you could ask them to participate in your loyalty program. If not you could offer them a free gift for making their first purchase.
By trying different ways to engage your client and tracking the results you can improve your clients experience as well as your bottom line. The act of trying, testing and tracking new ideas introduces innovation into your sales process and your business.

Who are your competitors?
New ideas don't have to come from you or your customers they can also come from your competitors. You can leverage the success of your competitors by following their lead. Big chain stores spend many thousands of dollars figuring out what customers want and why they buy.
Go out and shop your competition and other retail stores. When out shopping focus on what is good about what they do and think about how you could implement it in your store. How are their products displayed and in what space, what colors and shapes do they use, what is the overall feeling. Ask for help finding something and see how they respond. Ask questions about products and sales and buy something to test their sales processes. 
You may also try to return what you bought to test their return process. There is one caveat to copying what the other guy is doing. Sometimes what they do doesn't work and you will have just copied their failure.
If you are continually focused on what your customer wants you will succeed over time. If you focus on what you want you are putting yourself at risk for failure.
Don?t be afraid to ask your customers what they want and what they need and don?t be afraid to try something different. And most importantly track the results and prove that what you are doing is working.

Dave Soteros is a business management coach with Alrym Consulting Services. He looks for ward to your comments or questions.