The first thing you must do is to know your capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. In other words, you must harness positive thoughts. This prepares you to have an open mind.
Before making any strategy, you need to know the market you are targeting. This implies a bit of market research. Find out your competitors, their strengths and weaknesses. If they are successful, you must probe into their achievements. Having known your competitors, you are now in a position to know how you have to impress your customers and win them from your competitors.
This exercise will lead you to your customers. You must know what your customers are looking for. Know their likes and dislikes, their problems and desires. You must be in their shoes to understand their requirements and find out what would make them feel better. Also look around for what others are doing to woo customers. This involves finding out the customer service trends in the market. You must be one step ahead of your competitors then only you will be noticed.
The most pertinent question you must put to yourself is: Why should anyone buy from you? How come you are better than the rest in the market? Why should customers trust you? How will you create an irresistible offer so that they come to you?
Even if you have answered all these questions satisfactorily, it is not enough. You have to do a lot more to win over the customers from your competitors. By now you must be able to know where you are and what you can do. Think ways and means to make your product stand out from thousands of similar products. Here comes packaging to your rescue. You must be able to make your product strikingly attractive to draw attention of the buyers walking past the well-stocked shelves.
You may not be able to attract as many customers as you wanted unless you make your presence felt in the market. To do this you have to advertise your product. Find out what your competitors are doing. You must outwit them. The media you choose depends on your target buyers. If they are young and your product is meant for the trendy, obviously your choice should be TV. Here also you must know the favorite channels of your target audience. Choose those channels and let your product make an impact on the young minds so that when they go out for shopping they do not forget to pick up your product. If your customers are avid readers, you must take the help of the print media. Here also your selection should depend on the choice of your target customers.
Above all, your relationship with your customers is the key factor for your success. To retain your customers you must keep your promises you might have made in your sales campaigns. Learn to listen to your customers. Then only you will be able retain them. Public relations must be your top priority. Answer phone calls promptly. Few things annoy people more than not having their call returned. If there is any sort of complaint, attend to it to the satisfaction of the customer. Customer satisfaction, in other words, is the corner stone of your success.
