In a previous post I discuss how important it was to know your customer especially in this current market environment. I thought it would be helpful to list some example of things you might find while doing your research. You should strive to get even more specific information from your customer however here are the general trends you might encounter:

• Your customer are plan on spending less vigorously than they did before but they are spending (find out where they are spending)
• Your customers are applying more scrutiny than they did before
• They are reluctant to make big purchases
• Your customers need lots of reassurance to make their purchase (ROI, Guarantees, etc.)
• People think maintenance rather than expansion

As mention in the previous post, you have to change your approach to match the feedback from your customers on how they are spending and what they need in order to buy.  So now it is up to you.

You may want to change the products you sell or emphasize the products that match the research you found. For instance, if your customer is focusing on maintenance, what products can you present to them? (Ex. Virtualization, managed services, etc.)

You may also want to repackage what you have or focus on smaller sales; make the chunks bite sized rather than focusing on large purchases. Be creative about what you are offering. Provide on-demand or SaaS type products or simply add a creative offer to an existing solution.

Now it seems to me, that instead of trying to lower price thus lowering your margins, you need to be adding lots of value to your clients. That is a long-term strategy you should always employ just not in uncertain economic times.

Feel free to email me your comments or questions at rvela@streetsmartvar.com.

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