Why customers don’t patronize your products?

Which industry do you operate in?  Is it a private sector or a public? Is it a  service sector or manufacturing or extractive sector?

Have you ever asked yourself this: Why a fall in your sales and revenue?

Customers are one of the greatest assets of every firm. I called them the lifeblood of businesses.

They can push or pull you on the business ladder. Why do you chase for customers? You search and chase for customers because you want their money, respect and loyalty whilst they also want your products or services to satisfy their needs. Customers form a network of satisfied users where they recommend and refer products they love and share their preferences among themselves. If you are lucky, they share your products with another prospect. Your product’s demands go up because the link to share with others continues to widen.

Do you even know your competitors? Who are your competitors?  I will say competitors are rivals of your business whom you share the same customers and same or similar products or services in the market. Have you ever considered this: What are competitors doing that you aren’t? I know you have thought about this “ I don’t want to copy my competitors“ sure, it is good you don’t want to copy competitors and that you must establish a competitive advantage“ sometimes, it is super good to copy what other rivals are doing and master the game.

Business and survival are all about the game plan, how to initiate each move. When to initiate each move to survive in this game called Business. The game plan is the strategy.  You have a lot of strategies to execute. The best strategies are known when it works. I have been saying that there is no word as a good strategy or best strategy but can be so, when it is executed to bring good results. Master the game. Sometimes you might have a good strategy to work in the market for you. “ oh I know this strategy is going to work for my firm“ “ It is super powerful“. When you start to work with it, and the result show slowing, you will realize that this strategy which you called the best is rather the worst.

Strategy is all about time. Study your competitors and master the game.

Now, this is why customers are not patronizing your products and or services: –

• Knowing your clients (KYC) is an issue that started at the foundation when you decided to start doing business. You just got the idea that this business venture is lucrative, and you eventually entered it without knowing your market segment, target audience, likes and dislikes, and behaviour on related products. This needs to be corrected in order to shift sales on clients’ patronage.
• Low product awareness is one more step performed by you that affects sales negatively. If you want customers to see your products, you must sell them first. Selling is about consumer behaviour. Customers will not purchase products or services without knowing it. You need to provide them with awareness, brand awareness with repetitive time to show them your products. You should know the type of medium that will be used for successful awareness. Know their behaviour and target the correct medium based on their preferences and behaviour.
• Low customer perceived value is all about non-conforming to the perceived value of customers. Sell benefits, do not sell features. Although the features are good to use when selling, you should sell them benefits to increase your visibility and penetration into the market. This is done by creating a perceived value for your products and or services. These benefits will turn to value for customers to recognise. These benefits will be of value to clients. In the long run, patronize your products.
• Only one product affects your business because you have a product or service that you deliver to consumers. One of the things customers need from you is varieties in the product line. They need to make choices in your product range. They pay more emphasis to different products that meet their needs. If they realize that your product only meets a particular requirement, they turn to other competitors who have variety in their product lines. Mind you, when they are switching, they take along 5 customers in their network because they promote your products based on recommendations and referrals.

Treating clients as a precious resource and mastering the game to reign over the game called business.

By Brigitte Adofo Agyapong

Author of Win You: An introspective Journey of finding yourself, knowing your potentials and harnessing them for greater heights and ultimate success.

Management Consulting | Marketing | Brand and Strategy