13 Ways For Entrepreneurs To Keep Up With Changing Customer Needs

Via Forbes.com

To maintain long-term success, organizations have to continually adjust to consumer behavior, and the longer a business remains in operation, the more likely it is that its customers’ tastes will change. As an entrepreneur, if you seek longevity and healthy, sustainable growth for your company, it is essential to stay up to date on what your customers need and want. The only way your business can remain relevant is by always striving to better meet those needs.

How can entrepreneurs keep a grasp of their customers’ ever-evolving preferences? Thirteen experts from Forbes Coaches Council share their best advice to help you figure out what your customers need right now.

1. Develop An Ongoing Feedback System

By far, the best way I have seen is to have an ongoing system of consumer feedback that feeds back to the executive team every month. It is done through a formal consumer panel for the large companies, but it can be as simple as an internet search by a junior in the company. The key here is to have it coming at you automatically. Otherwise, it is hit and miss. - Linda Martin, Levelup-global

2. Stay Close To The Sales Process

Stay close to the sales process and listen. Being active in your sales pursuits is a great way to stay attuned to and aligned with changing patterns in the marketplace. Entrepreneurs can delegate many things, but that delicate relationship with the next incremental sale is one you want to keep close to your vest. You don't have to guess what's next if you are actively engaged with your customers. - Jim Vaselopulos, Rafti Advisors, LLC

3. Check In With Clients Obsessively

Entrepreneurs need to check in with their clients and customers obsessively. If you don't keep your finger on the pulse of the people buying your services, you are going to have a really challenging time keeping up with what they really need. - Natasha Ganem, Lion Leadership

4. Implement An AI Strategy

Make sure you have an artificial- or augmented-intelligence strategy. Artificial intelligence is now critical not only for providing functionality to consumers, but also for gathering data about customer needs in real time. Organizations that don't have the capability to keep up with the on-demand needs of consumers will quickly fall behind. - Tonya Echols, Vigere

5. Never Assume You Know Everything

Never think that you know everything about the needs or preferences of your market and end users. Even if you're the market leader and successful beyond your wildest expectations, don't allow yourself to become complacent, seeing only the things you want to see. Surveys, focus groups, one-on-one interviews, etc., all need to be part of your repertoire. Be as curious now as you were when you first started. - Lee Eisenstaedt, Leading with Courage Academy

6. Use Social Listening, Not Social Monitoring

Social monitoring focuses on the number of clicks, views, likes and comments. In contrast, social listening involves engaging with your consumer and genuinely building trust to understand their problems and pains. Once you know and understand your consumers’ needs, innovate to provide solutions that will resolve their challenges, create time-efficiency, or reduce profit blockers. - Divya Parekh, DP Group

7. Ask Your Children

My advice is to ask your kids. Given that our children are digital natives, they are quick to adopt new technology and learn new trends. I learned from them how to post an Instagram story, upload videos on YouTube and search for news on Twitter. Next, I am sure they will be showing me how to get directions from augmented-reality maps and shop for a home through virtual-reality tours. - Kelly Huang, Genesis Advisers

8. Build A Customer-Centric Culture

Build a customer-centric culture. Companies with such a culture, by nature, never take their eyes off of customers. They engage customers and understand changing needs even better than research firms, as consumer trends always arise from daily customer behaviors. Companies that focus on products and competitors are often blind to the changing needs of customers, and they end up playing the wrong game. - Duong Nguyen, CEMpartner

9. Get Customers To Share Their Vision

With client engagement, it is important that entrepreneurs do not go in thinking that they know all the answers. In order for your business to remain agile, you need to ask your customers relevant questions around what works, what doesn’t work, what their vision is and how you can support them in achieving that vision. This will allow you to meet your customers where they are in a bespoke, value-based manner. - Linda Aiyer, InfinitU Consulting

10. Think About Their Future Wants

Think about their future wants. Consumers want to purchase the next new thing, and that is why it's crucial to anticipate what they might want in the future. When Apple created the iPad, nobody thought it would mean anything, but they created a want. Entrepreneurs need to be creative, look farther, think about what their consumers would want in the coming years, and create products and services that can serve those needs. - Jedidiah Alex Koh, Coaching Changes Lives

11. Follow The Eyes

Follow the eyes. Right now, no matter what you think of them, companies like TikTok have garnered millions of followers and eyeballs. You can disagree with them, their ownership and their ultimate purpose, but many people have voted with their time, even if they are mostly younger. Follow this trend and you will see, learn and hear things. Very recently, the company launched TikTok for Business. It is all business. - John M. O'Connor, Career Pro Inc.

12. Listen To The Pulse

Listen to the pulse. Consumer behavior changes according to the environment. Hang out where your customers are and listen to the chatter. What are their challenges? What solutions do they want? What language do they use? You might already have a great product, so use what you learn from the chatter to connect with your consumers. - Chuen Chuen Yeo, ACESENCE

13. Stay Humble And Hungry

Entrepreneurs bring their passion and expertise to the marketplace, but sometimes they get stuck on their initial idea or market innovation. Consumer demand shifts rapidly, and entrepreneurs need to be agile and adaptive. This will only happen if they stay intellectually and entrepreneurially humble and hungry. - Jonathan H. Westover, Ph.D, Utah Valley University & Human Capital Innovations, LLC

Want to learn more ways Lion Leadership can help?

Book an informational appointment with us to talk about your goals and how Lion Leadership may be able to help.