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What Do Your Clients Want?
Author: Jody Gabourie  | Posted: 15-04-2008 | Comments: 0 | Views: 4 | Rating: (81)  (?) 
 What Your Clients Want: 9 Ways to Find Out
In order to successfully market yourself and your business, you need to understand what your prospects and customers need and what kinds of questions they want answered.
When you know this information, you can use the content for your website, articles, newsletter, brochures, teleseminars, ezine, speaking engagements, blog, free reports, and so on. You can also use it to design new programs, workshops, services and products.
In other words, you need this information to do ALL your marketing!
So, how do you find out what your prospective and current customers need and want most? Well, asking them is the quickest, easiest and most direct method. There are also ways you can "eavesdrop" to find out stuff too.
Below are 9 ways for you to stay on top of what your target group wants:
1) Have a question page on your website
-allow people to submit questions to you in your area of expertise
-have the link available on every page of your website
2) Keep current with happenings in your industry
-when you read magazines, newspapers and trade publications clip out anything that you feel would be of interest to your prospects, or have a possible impact on your clients' businesses
3) Ask questions on your blog and allow people to post comments
-if you have a blog, ensure that you are providing lots of opportunity to get feedback from people who're reading your posts
-keep track of questions that are being asked and see if there are recurring themes you could write a specific blog about, or create a new product
4) Solicit feedback prior to speaking to a group
-you can ask the coordinator of the seminar if they know of any specific concerns and issues that are facing the audience you will be speaking to
-if conducting your talk for a specific company, ask if you can send an email around prior to the event in order to make sure your talk specifically targets the group's needs
5) Set up a specific email address for people to send you questions
-promote yourself as an expert by providing people with an opportunity to submit questions
-tell people about this resource via your newsletter or ezine, and make sure to publish some of the questions & answers in the next newsletter
6) Do a survey
-at the end of a presentation or talk, pass around a brief hand-out asking for feedback and any questions that they didn't get answered
-have an online survey asking specific questions around new products, programs, customer service , etc. and promote the link in your newsletter, ezine, special email and blog
-pick up the telephone and call some current customers to find out what's working/what's not, what new product or services they need, and any other question you want information about
-have a sheet at tradeshows where people can write down their burning questions and you'll get back to them - give away a prize for the best questions
7) Join online forums
-browse through online forums that are geared towards your niche market to see what kinds of questions people are asking and what frustrations they're experiencing
8) Gather information on your website contact page
-have another field (box) on the contact form where people can provide details about themselves and their needs
9) Keep watch on competitors newsletters, articles and blogs
-see what questions that they are being asked and what kind of information they're providing to their clients and prospective customers
I encourage you to use several of these methods for finding out exactly what your customer base and prospects want. Not only will you ensure that you stay current but you'll also have great targeted content for all your communications.
The more you understand whom you're talking to, the more your marketing efforts will succeed and the more lucrative success you'll have.
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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/what-do-your-clients-want-387504.html
About the Author:Jody Gabourie, The Small Business Marketing Coach, delivers simple, innovative and powerful marketing strategies to help business owners find and keep their most profitable clients. To learn more about how she can help you take your business to the next level, and to sign up for her FREE special report, ezine and articles, visit her site at http://www.JodyGabourieMarketingCoach.com
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