Don't Grow Bankrupt When Your Clients Grow Up (Or, How To Adapt To Your Clients' Changing Needs)

Say you've established trust with your prospects, and
they've initially bought and used your products.

Later they turned into satisfied customers, and now you're
developing wonderfully long-term business relationships
with them.

But a few months/years later they turn to you and suddenly
say,

"I'm starting to need new features on this product."
OR
"I need something done, and although I know you don't
usually do it I think it's within your expertise, so I was
hoping you could be the one to do it for me."

What if what they're asking for is really something you're
not ready to offer yet? And what if they reach the point
where they badly need it NOW, and are forced to make a
choice between staying with you and going somewhere else?

Do you just tell them "I'm sorry, but we can't offer that
right now." and sadly let them go?

Or do you realize that it's much easier to keep these
valuable clients loyal than to spend more money attracting
new ones, and find ways to give them what they need?

There are no hard & fast rules for answering this kind of
question, but it's a situation most business owners will
eventually have to face.

It's called the CUSTOMER GROWTH PHENOMENON -- and if you
prepare yourself early on in order to meet its challenges,
it could mean the growth & success of your business as well.

Evolving Customers = Evolving Needs
-----------------------------------
General Motors understands that their customers inevitably
change, and so created their different car models to adjust
to those changes.

While their clients are young and have generally moderate
incomes, GM offers them the sturdy & reliable Chevrolet.
But as these consumers grow older and get better jobs, GM
capitalizes on the trust they already established by
offering them the performance-driven (and more expensive)
Pontiac. A few more years later GM assumes they have
climbed the corporate ladder and feel deserving of a
well-earned break… so they use their same established
relationship to sell them on the luxuries of the
high-priced Cadillac.

In the same spirit of customer retention, soft drink
manufacturers have come up with low-calorie diet versions
of their products, while breakfast cereal manufacturers
created the executive "power breakfast bars."

The fact is, these businesses owners know that marketing
isn't just about getting new clients to notice them and buy
their products ONCE.

They have seen the big picture, and have taken the necessary
steps to get existing clients to KEEP ON BUYING their
products -- and even encourage inactive customers to come
out of the woodwork buy from them AGAIN.

THEY have adapted to the customer growth phenomenon -- and
there's no reason why you shouldn't do the same, too.

Rise To The Challenge
---------------------
The simplest way to meet changing client needs usually
involves just 3 adjustments to your product/service:

1) Add new features.
Listen for what their new needs are, then study your
product closely. Most of the time, you'll find that you
only really need one or two new features to improve what's
already there, and make it enough to satisfy most clients.

2) Create an enhanced design.
Sometimes it's not so much how a product works, but how a
product LOOKS that makes clients decide they want something
"new."

Whether you're talking about computer casing, or food
packaging, or how cute the icons are in your program's
taskbar, remember that:

- different age groups have different design preferences
- changing trends & lifestyles require properly-designed
products
- and people will always have a basic need to express
their individuality & stand out -- and they often do
so through the products they use most often.

3) Increase the range of selection & availability.
Add new flavors. Create different-sized packages. Make
your products available as downloads AND as deliverable CDs.
Or enlist your business partners' help so they'll make your
services available on their sites, too.

Although the decision to change or grow seems intimidating
at first, breaking them down into smaller steps of
adjustment makes them more manageable -- and more
affordable -- to execute and control.

Decide to GROW
--------------
The moment clients increase or change their expectations
of your product, it often means 2 good things:

1) They (or their business) have recently grown because
of you, and
2) Their increased expectations often signal an increase
in purchasing power, making them more financially able
to do MORE business with you.

So don't be afraid to change, and dare to go where no
entrepreneur in your position has ever gone before.

Whether you end up creating a new product or just retaining
a valuable client, it can only mean BETTER things for you &
your business, too.

© Tatiana Velitchkov