Start with the existing data:
The very first step of the consumer research is data analysis. You should need data for conducting consumer research, to identify their needs and wants, to identify their tastes and preferences, to analyse their buying behavior, etc. It can be obtained from any medium such as online or offline but it is a very costly and time taking process. So if you want to conduct consumer research then you can start this from the existing data you have about your target customers at the initial level. Later on you can conduct it at a large scale if needed.
Interview the Internal Stakeholders:
In the process of consumer research you need to collect some basic data from your internal stakeholders such as marketing team, sales team, customer support team, delivery teams with respect to the customer’s needs, their likes and dislikes, their queries (if any), etc. This can help you a lot to identify your potential customers.
Identify the pains and gaps in the customer’s buying process
If you actually want to grow your business or market share then you need to identify the pain points of the customers and the gaps in their buying process. If you successfully identify this and you are able to overcome their pains and the gaps in the buying process, then it may be a turning point for your business, it may lead your business to achieve a milestone.
Scanning all interaction touch points:
You should scan and analyse all the touch points of your customers from starting to end. First of all you have to note down all the touch points of the customers i.e. cold-calling, their queries regarding the product, their needs and requirements, their visit to the company out-let to buy the product, customer service, etc. After that you can ask for a customer feedback regarding all these functions which can help you out to identify the changes required to improve you service.
Focus Group Interview of Customer:
Last but not the least, you can conduct an interviews with your existing customers. Ask them some questions regarding your products and the services which can help you to upgrade your existing products or services, also can help you out in launching or introducing a new one if required.
These are some points which can help you in doing consumer research and in identifying the customer’s needs and improvement in product or services if required.
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