Hi guys how are you? Long-time no write! Yes, I apologise I was up to something. To be honest I was working on my other business which I intend to use as a cash cow in order to grow this business. At some point you shall see the Plexis Strategy brand all over the internet, billboards, you name it. Just know that the ‘cash cow’ will be responsible for that. It is then that you shall realise that Plexis Strategy is here to change your life like sliced bread. That said I was in this other shop yesterday and I was thinking, do these people know each and every one that is in this shop in terms of what they want , what makes them tick, how they can make them spend more that type of thing? Humans are indeed mysterious beings that need to be explored. Are these shop owners devoted to us? Do they support us? What do they intend to do with us? These are some of the questions that ring in our heads. Most firms see business research as an expense but it is important in my opinion. Maybe people do not know when business research is needed so here are some of the signs that will show you that you need to conduct some business research for your business.
So I used to make a habit of going to play video games at this other spot in town. I was a regular there, like clockwork. It was quite expensive to play there a dollar for two games. When we started playing games there all was well as we used to be treated like kings. We were happy, and then things changed. As the place became a hotspot the number of customers increased exponentially like popcorn in a pot and it became hard to even get a chance to play. The sad part is the supervisor of the spot barely noticed that
some of his regulars were now making less frequent visits and with time we stopped going there at all as we were disgruntled. All he could see was that there were many people in the arena at any point in time. What he did not notice was that it was almost always the same number of different people. What this meant was that the business was not expanding but was experiencing customer churn, much like a leaking bucket. A sign that you need business research is when generally your customer base does not grow. If you have say a department store and it never becomes overcrowded then that means that you are probably losing customers. Conduct business research on customers as you accumulate them and you will be enlightened in a way that will help to grow your business. You should know how many new customers are coming through, the type of customers that you have, how much churn you have and the reasons for all these and other phenomenon so that you can make hay while the sun shines. SIGN #1 – LACK OF GROWTH IN YOUR BUSINESS.
When you launch a product and it does not do well you can blame the gods or call it misfortune. When you continuously launch products and most of them do not perform well on the market then you need to conduct some business research. SIGN #2 – CONSISTENTLY FAILING WITH NEW PRODUCTS. There are these guys who sell eggs right, like in the grocery stores. I was thinking of trying something new so I bought these other eggs in OK. The first time they were packed in small plastic bags and when I cracked an egg at home there was an embryo in the egg, I felt cheated. I went back to my regular brand and then that other brand came back with a bang. The eggs were now in that cardboard crate and I gave them a shot. I tried them and they were not fresh. The smell that came from those eggs made me dizzy and I remember it to this day. I’m thinking OK, another glitch? I went back to my usual brand. The last straw was when they came up with a nice looking plastic crate and I thought hey, this is nice. What do you know half the eggs were stuck onto the plastic crate because they were cracked so I had to throw them away! If these guys had done their business research they would have discovered the issue was not in the packaging but in the product itself. Don’t change the packaging, get rid of the embryos! If a product fails, know exactly what caused the failure otherwise the problem will be back like sunrise. Better still use business research to prevent such problems in the first place.
So, I am a member of this other voluntary organisation and lately members have been evaporating faster than E10 fuel in your tank. In the days preceding a massive Egypt type of exodus at the club people started acting funny. They would clap in an overzealous manner when the president made a speech and make remarks like ‘yes, we are on the right track’ with a smirk on their face. People would just start fights for no apparent reason and not show up for projects et cetera. We carried on as if there was nothing wrong but the underlying issues included people not getting what they had come to the club for like networking opportunities among other issues. As a result they became less supportive of the cause and their passion blew out like a candle in the wind. SIGN #3 – IRATE INTERNAL CUSTOMERS. If business research had been conducted in good time we would still have many members as the problem areas would have been identified and corrected. In the end the people that came out worse off are the poor people that the organisation has a mandate to assist. To this day they are hungry, sad, and cold. In the case of a profit making company the result would be angry customers. Conduct an Internal Climate Survey when you see these signs and prevent a lot of misfortune.
You will have to agree with me when I say that in terms of products these days we now have a lot in terms of choice. Do you foresee a time when Coca Cola will struggle to make sales? Many people don’t but there is always a chance of that happening. I grew up in the ‘kuvha’ days when all I had was either a fizzy Fanta, Coca Cola or Cream Soda. Then came the days of the tangy Flavor Ravor and I jumped onto the bandwagon. Sweet freezits also came into style just like the dearly departed copycat RC Cola. Back then when relatives visited us we would show our class by buying the critically acclaimed ‘litre’. These days I serve my visitors classy Ceres fruit juice. The point is that while I was (and still am) busy buying all these other beverages The Coca Cola Company was essentially (and still is) losing revenue. Take a look at the pie chart below which shows the various market shares for various types of beverages.
To their credit The Coca Cola Company conducted their business research and are making products that are competing with these invaders such as Diet Fuze Tea and the innovative Bacardi Mixers amongst many others. Regardless when you realise that numerous products entering your market space you have to conduct some business research. What you would like to know is why are they being successful? Are there gaps that my product is leaving that are being exploited by competitors? Are people’s tastes changing? That sort of thing. SIGN #4 – NEW AND SUCCESSFUL COMPETING PRODUCTS.
How many adverts do you see daily? How many do you remember? How many of the times do you actually buy something because you have seen it on a billboard? SIGN #5 – A REDUCTION IN YOUR RETURN ON INVESTMENT ON YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS. Back in the heydays I used to be able to sing along to advertisements that I saw on TV and heard on the radio. I used to sing along with joy to the Calypso Song and the Sun Jam adverts. I used to be so proud of how I knew the lyrics to the adverts and other kids in pre-school did not. What I remember is I also used to consume a lot of the products that I saw in the advertisements. Calypso was an integral part of my lunch pack and the sweet Sun Jam would tantalise my taste buds as a spread on bread at break time. These days I can’t even remember the contents of an advert. There are now so many advertisements as there are now so many competing products. You switch on your television there are adverts, on your phone there are adverts, billboards, emails you name it. Back then we used to sit and watch adverts now I see it as a chance to go to the toilet. As a result of these reasons and more you need to conduct research to see how best to get in touch with your target audience. Ask them what they usually watch and what time, what appeals to them, what they value in your product, what would make them buy something that they have seen in an advert that sort of thing. This way you can increase the ROI on your marketing efforts and stop the rot.
To sum it up people research is not an expense but it is ‘an investment in not wasting your money’ if I may put it that way. My position on the matter is whatever you might have to spend conducting research is less and has less of an impact on your business when compared to the issues that I have mentioned above (if left unattended to). Many people want a justification of why research should be conducted. I have given you a few reasons to conduct research above. More so I have given you some of the signs that you should look for. What other reasons can you come up with? Do you disagree? Speak your mind below.
Thanks
Ruvimbo
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