April 27, 2009

Price - So Much More Important

How are the costs associated with services impacting consumer's experience and decision making in today's economy? We've found that price is significantly important. It’s a key factor in the consumer’s decision-making process to make purchases and select services. So what can you do as a business owner to meet your customer's needs while maintaining the margins of your business? Be focused and creative with what you offer!

1. Analyze your best selling products and services and promote them
2. Evaluate, then remove or redesign items that are not selling well.
3. Offer smaller items at a lower price where possible.
4. Ask your customers what additional services you could provide that would be of value to them

Insights - Shopping Around

The feedback we're getting from consumers is that a majority of them are shopping around for alternative products and services. Consumers are no longer staying with providers as a matter of convenience. It's important for business owners to know the criteria that cause their customers to evaluate other vendors. One way to do this is to provide a platform that allows your customers to present you with continuous feedback.

Here's an example of a personal trainer that is utilizing our platform to obtain feedback from his customers. Link. Prior to starting the process of monitoring his customer's feedback, the trainer conducted a study that provided him with key criteria that would result in the loss of customers.

Vendor Spotlight - Spirit of Health

Even though you may not be located in Cupertino, Calif., and you may not be able to enjoy the therapeutic massage services of the Spirit of Health, you can see how any business owner can proactively capture customer feedback. We provided the Spirit of Health with a tool that gives them the ability to continually monitor their customer's experience and offer them benefits beyond their treatments. Check it out at Spirit of Health .

Please call us at 408.891.9094 if you have any questions about this type of tool. Also, if you'd like to experience an amazing therapeutic massage, contact the Spirit of Health. You won't be disappointed.

Restaurants - How to Keep Customers

We've recently worked with a couple of different restaurants to help them better understand their customer's needs and how they can improve their services. The studies have provided invaluable insights for the owners. The best part was that most of the customer recommendations weren't associated with discounting items. Customers recommended options that gave them more variety and smaller portion sizes at a lower price-point. This strategy keeps the value proposition in place, without negatively impacting profit margins. A win-win for everyone.

Do you know a restaurant that you'd like to see improve? Let them know about our inexpensive quality services that require minimal effort. We will provide them with a clear road map of how to align with their customer's needs.