#Reflection 3# Customers Will Give The Answer You Need

Are you feeling annoying when no one hears your feedback?
Have you ever given up using a product because no one cares about your complaints to the product?
Yes, I have. I gave up using an earphone. I sent an email to the company to complain the bad quality of the earphone, but I did not receive any response from the company. It made me feel frustrated, and I decided not to use the headset brand anymore.

The customer is not only a buyer but also a creator.  When you want to improve a product, your customers can give you the answer that how to improve your product. Customers know what they want and need. You can not guess what a customer wants. The only way to find out is by speaking to them. Businesses need to grow if they are going to continue to be successful. Listen to your customers, and they will give you the answers you need to grow your business.

What to do if you do not know what your customers need?
Ask them!!! They will give you the answer.

Sony "Help Us With a Name"
The name of the product can make or break its selling success. A company can encourage its customers to engage in an important business decision, and it will make them feel like they are an essential contributor to your business.

Sony created a contest called "Help Us With a Name" a few years ago. They looked to the public to help develop a name for their new wireless speaker product. The speakers are small balls with different colors, like pink, white and black.

Sony posted the contest on all of their social sites through media, like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Participants could write down their suggested names under the post on social media.

In less than two weeks, Sony had received more than 10,000 name suggestions. The Sony executives chose the final names. Winners were posted on the Sony Facebook page.

However, asking your customers to name your product is only the first step. Sharing the winners on social media is important. During the contest,  Sony also chose some funny names to share with its followers on social media. In this contest, Sony made its customers feel that they are appreciated and valued. What'more, people who participated in this contest would continue to focus on the information of the wireless speaker product and also become the potential buyers.

Which is your favorite?
A local toy retailer wanted to know which LEGO product would sell the fastest, so they set up a simple vote contest and asked its customers directly. The toy retailer encouraged its customers to vote, which offered them a chance to win a set of LEGO.

It is a very good example that the merchant used social media to figure out the needs of its customers. The toy retailer used Twitter feed to give consumers a choice and ask them to tell you which product option they'd most like to buy. It is a very direct and efficient way to know the needs of its customers. People who like LEGO were willing to vote for this contest. The way to participate in this contest is simple, which only needs your email and your option. The post of this voting contest updates at various times throughout the day, and it used related hashtags to gain more reach. What's more, the retailer also offered the price of those products. Price is one of the elements that can influence customers' buying decisions. In this way, the retailer could receive a more resonable and practical result of the voting contest.

Customer feedbacks is a form of market research. Their feedback can be presented in many different forms like email feedback, writing feedback, survey feedback or voting feedback. "Asking" your customers for feedback is a way to give them the opportunities to talk to you. Their feedbacks are free market research for you to improve your business. Everything your business does should be focused on the customers. It's the customer who makes your business, and without them, there wouldn't be one.