Business Plans For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 5. Taking a Closer Look at Customers

In This Chapter

• Checking out who your customers are

• Discovering why your customers buy

• And why they may not buy again!

• Finding out how your customers make choices

• Remembering the big picture

• Dealing with business customers

The most crucial part of business planning involves taking a long, hard look at customers – those you enjoy having, those you would love to land, and those you would just as soon give away to some unsuspecting competitor. The stakes are high. How well you know your customers ultimately determines how successful you are. But figuring out what makes customers tick can be downright frustrating. If you've tried it before, you may be tempted to throw up your hands and leave the entire mess to the so-called experts – marketing gurus, consultants, or perhaps astrologers. Don't. This chapter shows you how to better acquaint yourself with your customers so that you can offer them more value and serve them more profitably than anyone else out there.

In this chapter, we take a closer look at why customers buy your products and services in the first place by exploring their needs and motives. And we investigate how they make choices in the marketplace by examining customer perceptions and their decision-making process. Finally, we take a quick look at your customers that are actually other businesses.

Checking Out Who Your Customers Are

A fresh look at customers starts with the ones you enjoy seeing – those who regularly purchase goods or ...