Are the individuals or businesses that purchases goods or services from another business.

Are important because they drive revenues; without them, businesses cannot continue to exist.

2 Types of Customers

Are dissociated from business operations and are often the parties interested in purchasing the final goods and services produced by a company.

Are individuals or businesses integrated into business operations, often existing as employees or other functional groups within the company.

3 Main Types of Customer Needs

Are the most tangible and obvious of the three main types of customer needs.

Can be broad or extremely specific, depending on the customer’s buying criteria.

Customers typically evaluate potential solutions based on whether they’ll help them achieve a particular task or function.

A customer need that relates to how a person wants to be perceived by others when using a product or service.

While they aren't typically a customer's primary considering they can concern when a purchase, influence their final decision.

Are similar to social needs in that they’re typically secondary to functional needs.

Refer to how a customer wants to feel.

While they can be difficult to pinpoint, companies that identify those of their customers can use the information to tailor and optimize their product messaging.

10 things you need to know about your customer

Is the process of presenting a concept for a product to its target market and learn from those prospective buyers whether or not the idea is worth pursuing.

This process typically takes place early-on in the conception stage, before any significant investment has been made in developing the product.

The two most common approaches to market validations are:

The key is that it must include direct contact and feedback from people in the product's intended market.

Its value is that your organization can uncover those problems before committing any significant time or resources to a product concept.

Can seem mysterious, but all consumers go through basic steps when making a purchase to determine what products and services will best fit their needs.

5 Steps in Consumer Decision-Making Process:

The first step of the consumer decision-making process is recognizing the need for a service or product.

When researching their options, consumers again rely on internal and external factors, as well as past interactions with a product or brand, both positive and negative.

In this stage, they may browse through options at a physical location or consult online resources, such as Google or customer reviews.

At this point in the consumer decision-making process, prospective buyers have developed criteria for what they want in a product.

This is the moment the consumer has been waiting for: the actual purchase. Once they have gathered all the facts, including feedback from previous customers, consumers should arrive at a logical conclusion on the product or service to purchase.

This part of the consumer decision-making process involves reflection from both the consumer and the seller.