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No customers mean no business being in business. Individuals running businesses, big or small, know this well. They fret dry days without customer footfalls and visitors to their websites. It's true equally for products and service providers. In a highly competitive marketplace, some businesses face customer dearth in the beginning. This is mostly the case in online selling. But why is it difficult to find a niche base in a world full of people, people, and people? Why is it so that your business does not have customers yet but your competitor attracts many?
It is important to find the answers to these questions before the market compels you to pack your bags and say goodbye. Please remember that you came into the business to do business not to be out. So let’s find the reasons for such shortfalls and discuss the ways to get customers and grow our businesses.
The first issue new businesses face is their failure to identify customers and their problems.
It’s true that there is no dearth of people. But the problem is finding people who can become customers. Not everybody is a customer. For example, a healthy individual is not a customer for the doctor. A diabetic person is not a customer for a psychologist. Doctors are in business because there are patients with particular ailments. The same is with other businesses. For people to become customers, they need to have problems. Only when there is a problem, will they seek a solution. So, new businesses need to properly identify the problem that people face and for which they seek solutions. This way, you will have an idea about the type of product you can offer to people who can become your customers. Once you determine this, research your competitors. See what solutions are they providing. Try giving a smarter solution than your competitors. If you ask me why Maruti Suzuki is the largest car company in India year-on-year (with around 51.2% market share in 2022), I would say, they know who their customers are, and what problems they seek solutions for.
The second issue is the failure to differentiate between customer wants and demands.
New businesses must know that there is a difference between wants and demands. Wants are wishes that are influenced by factors such as society, culture, values, and individual personality. Wants reflect the desired preferences for specific ways of satisfying our needs. A person is thirsty but wants something sweet. So he would choose Coca-Cola or maybe Sprite over water. On the other hand, an individual may want to have a Louis Vuitton handbag but lacks the ability to buy it. Want is a desire for benefits but are optional, i.e. it’s not necessary. Only when wants are backed by the ability to purchase, it can be termed demand. Without demand nothing sells. Hence, new businesses must be in a position to identify the demands. Let me give an example of how Colgate has been able to convert the wants of the people into demand. There is no denying the fact that Colgate has been dominating the oral care market in India for a long time. Its target customers are the middle class and lower class. With different brands offering solutions for oral care, Colgate has seen a slight dip in its share. But it has emphasized its oral care solution keeping in mind the price sensitiveness of its consumers. Therefore, a 13-gram pack of Colgate is also available on shelves. Colgate has remained a leader as it has offered a product that even the low-income group consumer can afford to buy without compromising their oral health.
The third reason why the new business does not have customers is that they fail to reach them.
Communication is important to reach the targeted audience. Businesses fail to garner customers because their marketing techniques fail. Consumers should have knowledge of a product that can solve their problems. They should know what the product or service is all about in order to make any buying decision. Your target audience needs to know why they should choose you over your competitors. If we go back to the Colgate example, TV commercials are the main way of communicating the product to the customers. It helps to penetrate the larger customer base in India. You won't see any Louis Vuitton ads on television in India. What if Louis Vuitton starts marketing itself on primary Indian channels through advertisements. I wonder if the costs incurred would fructify into any leads. See here, the target market for the company is the wealthy middle-aged women. These consumers have the need to feel prestige wearing or carrying it. The masses don’t. So it adheres to premium advertising policy in fashion magazines.
The point to be made here is that new businesses must strategize on the marketing part. Picking up the proper marketing technique is crucial to making an impact on the minds of the customers. It may be anything like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, TV commercials, banners, newspaper ads, or organic ways like word-of-mouth. Choose properly so that the message reaches the intended customer. Remember that customers are king and they decide whether you play the game for long or go back to the pavillion.
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Business tactics