Ultimate Guide to Understanding Customer Needs in New Markets

Understanding customer needs is essential to provide them with accurate responses and offerings. That is to say, solutions that are valuable to them can make the difference between it is a nice touch or it is exactly what I need for growing or keeping in good shape. Or, who knows? Maybe it is for evolving and adapting to new demands and environments.

Therefore, simply putting on the table what you have without considering who your target people are is kind of a dead end and hardly repays what you have invested in it. It is true that even if you do not lift a finger, there will always be people who may need what you offer—be it a service or a product. And, of course, the primary purpose is to find those people.

But this is also exactly why you should adapt your proposition to those you are trying to reach, especially when tapping into new markets. After all, nobody wants to buy “stuff”; we want solutions, time, benefits, shortcuts, security, prestige, or quality. And if possible, more than one of these elements combined.

So, how should you proceed? This blog is precisely about that.

Know Your Customers and What Drives Them

There are needs as diverse as people and organisations behind them, something you are bound to experience if you have a global company. Sometimes this variety is due to cultural, belief, or linguistic differences. Others are due to customs and behaviours, economic matters, or local competition.  

Let us be clear: No one expects you to have a specific proposal for every type of customer or prospect you are trying to reach; that would be not only impossible but also unfeasible. But certain related behaviours can be grouped together to later address them in a focused and effective way.

That is why you should first get to know the people you want to connect with. What motivates them and what turns them off; what are their personality traits, their online habits, and so on. Second, this allows you to identify customer needs to later map out how you can bridge those gaps or discontents with your offerings. Like a life preserver floating adrift, just in the nick of time.

#OptimationalTip: Stumped on how to get started? First, analyse and simplify the main purposes of your products or services. Then, think about what your ideal buyer would be, i.e. that perfect match between what you offer and what they need. 

In a moment, we will go through some techniques to gather and interpret these insights; but first, let us analyse the different types of needs that you will deal with and aim to solve.

Understanding Customer Needs: The Main Categories

Essentially, there are two main types of needs: Physical and psychological. In general, the distinction is very clear, but often the two overlap, making it difficult to distinguish the priority level. Below you will find further details for a more complete picture:

• Physical needs: These are the primary necessities and meeting them is essential either for survival or for healthy life quality. They have a direct, measurable, and sometimes tangible cause. For example, if you are thirsty, you need water and if you are sleepy, a place to rest.

• Psychological needs: These include feelings, mindsets, and what people consider to be relevant (even if they are not vital.) These concepts of what is necessary include comfort, reliability, convenience, prestige, freedom, and good service. For example, if you need a laptop for work and you start looking for an Apple Mac.

#OptimationalTip: For a true understanding of customer needs, it is important to know that sometimes drivers originate in the physical sphere, but take shape in the psychological one. For instance, being thirsty and wanting a Sprite, when perhaps the thirst could be satisfied even with water.

Learn more about how to identify customer needs types, featuring 16 subcategories derived from the psychological sphere.

Understanding Customer Needs With Real Data

As a global company, perhaps what you are most interested in at the moment is how to tap into these concrete and specific insights—within new markets. And, of course, how to put it into use. So, let us cut straight to the chase.

How to Perform a Customer Need Analysis

Information is power, it is an indisputable truth. Therefore, having concrete, real and updated information about your prospects’ preferences and demands will guide you toward better decision-making. Not only that: It is a determinant for the success of any strategy—especially relevant when going global, where everything could be new.

There are several techniques to obtain customer-related data, and the ones listed below are particularly practical.

Collect Feedback

You can ask your current market buyers to get some guidance for your new destination. And, mind you, perhaps you will also gain actionable insights into customer retention planning. 

Practice Social Listening 

Paying attention to what is being said in the media, social networks, and other digital channels is quite helpful. It works as a sort of thermometer of the current state of affairs and also helps in discovering unmet needs, areas for improvement, etc. In other words, it guides you on what you can do and how to do it. Or at least it can help you to discard some ideas.

Conduct Interviews and Surveys 

This allows you to get accurate information about your potential customers in the target market. You can, for example, randomly and anonymously ask a varied group of people. Or, you can rely on a local research firm to carry out the task and provide you with accurate reports.

Keep an Eye on the Competence

Praise your idols, study your role models… and analyse your rivals. Sadly for you, there is always something your competitors are doing well. We mean, they are “competition” for a reason, right? But fortunately, they also have flaws and for sure there is something they could improve on. Learning from their strengths and building on their weaknesses is key to addressing and understanding customer needs too.

In short, you have many options. Choose the technique that works best for you and suits both your business needs and available resources. Just make sure to make data-driven decisions and not by chance; as posted in Forbes: ‘(…) the more you understand about your customers, the more accurately you can predict what they want’.

Casting your luck at random is not an option.

How to Address Customer Needs

Now we are going to suppose you already have the information in place. In that case, congratulations! So what is next? Get down to the business of putting that information into practical use.

The zero step, which would be before you start materialising a strategy, is to organise that information and make some sense of it. Think of information as bricks; to build a house, you first need to stack them and combine them with other materials. To make your data pragmatic, it needs to be part of a document that enables re-consultation when necessary.

What kind of document? Find some options below.

Create a Buyer Persona

This is a semi-fictional representation of who your customers are. You just need to fill a doc or template with information about their demographics, work experience, education, inspirations, online shopping behaviours, etc. To really gain a deep understanding of customer needs, you may have to develop a few models of personas; it will depend on your objectives and who you want to reach (and how different they are.)

#OptimationalTip: There is no need to start from scratch! We help you create your buyer persona with a template you can edit as you like. Feel free to use it and adapt it as you please.

Craft a Customer’s Needs Statement

It is a document that compiles the insights gained from identifying customer needs. It is often used in content marketing, product development, and customer service initiatives to provide a more holistic view of the consumer. While there is no standard statement, it usually covers the following aspects: Who the customers are, why they buy, and how they do it.  Also, how much they plan to spend, what they expect from the product and the company, etc.

Provide Top-Notch Customer Service

Your first approaches may not be as sharp as you expect them to be. If so, do not despair; it is quite common when you are still testing the waters. However, be sure to repair any unsatisfactory or frustrating experiences. Believe us, you need word of mouth and a customer retention plan in place. Also, adjust your strategy in time to continue operating from data-driven decision-making.

#OptimationalTip: Did you know that around 52% of customers are willing to pay more for higher customer service? If you think about the importance of translating and localising your FAQ, chatbot support, and contact information, this figure is no small feat.

Measure Satisfaction on a Regular Basis

Make measurement a regular, scheduled activity in your calendar. You can use, for example, NPS, among other options. Remember that as situations and people change, so do priorities and with them the vision of what is necessary. And, ultimately, this may entail that you have to realign your customer approach strategy.

Last Thoughts: Understanding Customer Needs to Turn Them Into Opportunities

Gaining workable insights is what leads you on the path to successful strategies. With real knowledge, you can turn needs into features of your offerings. And, not only that: it can lead to real business opportunities. These opportunities can be for connecting, closing deals, but above all… for people choosing your brand. You do not want people to just buy, you want them to become loyal so that a long-term relationship develops from first contact.

This is all the more crucial today when with endless shopping options for everything, people are demanding more and more. Greater simplicity, practicality, and convenience. But they are also looking for tailored and, interestingly, humanised services. Customers want technology to save them time and money. But, they also want to be treated in a dedicated and empathetic way. It is just about striking the right balance, and for sure it can be done.
Want to know how providing a multilingual service can help you meet your customers’ needs in new markets? Contact us today and let us talk about the details.