Your Customer is a Moving target

“Lead your shot”

In short (without going into physics) then idiom comes from shooting sport where a target is moving across a plane.

You must aim in front of the object so that when you fire, the projectile will meet the object mid-air and blast into a million pieces. If the target is followed dead on when the weapon is fired, the pellets will miss just behind the object. With two high speed moving objects, being prepared and staying ahead of the goal will help you

So, how does this apply to business and marketing?

Much more than you’d think. The world is moving and progressing today at a higher rate than any other time in history. With technology, our increasing population, and changing political environment, our goals have now become a moving target. Your customer environment can change by the month, and you have to be able to move with it.

If we focus on where the target is now, by the time we execute, we will have missed our chance.

There is no way to know the future. The key is to think on your feet, focus on adaptability and use these skills:

Practice building Intuition

The most impactful (yet most difficult) way to hone your adaptability is to build your intuition through practice.

The key here is gaining a better understanding of the way your customers think and how they react to culture moves. Trends and culture shifts are a product of both conscious and subconscious intent.

In studying and better understanding why consumers make the choices they do, you will get a better understanding of how you can predict movement and adapt to change.

On top of studying general human psychology, try a hands-on approach in your business of making a few predictions and seeing how accurate you are.

At the beginning of the quarter write down what you think is going to happen, and a few predictions over consumer trends.

Similar to sitting down and planning your budgets and goals, only focusing more on soft-science (psychology, sociology, etc.)

How much you project to sell overall? Try predicting styles, colors or types that will perform the best, based on your current understanding of the consumer environment.

At the end of the quarter see which ones came close and evaluate why. This helps you build an instinct for the way your customers move and buy.

Much like a good game of poker, watching the habits of the players at the table before joining, so you can get an understanding of their trends and style.

Getting a feel for your customers movement, builds a natural ability to plan along with the trends.

Take Notes & Study Trends

Don’t underestimate the power of documenting trends and studying them overtime. Large corporations dedicate entire teams to this task, making it even more important small business owners and entrepreneurs make it a quarterly habit.

Building a “database” tracking soft-science customer trends and comparing it to your sales trends can provide an incredible amount of insight into how your customers think and their buying habits.

Tools like this are valuable when it comes to building your intuition. Allowing you to shoot better out in front of of the trends more often.

Take a Step Back

I know it’s hard but, practice taking a step back from your business and find out where you fit in.

Yes, look at your competitors, but it is also good to look at associated, complementing and even completely different products.

Looking at the trends in your industry, area, and market.

In order to understand the consumer and how they evaluate your product, look at their buying habits with other products.

When they buy your product, what do they evaluate as valuable in other markets as well?

For example, a purse company might study makeup, or all other products that fit in their purse.

A sleeping bag company might study tents and other hiking hear so they can better fit on a hiker’s backpack.

I imagine you will be surprised and delighted by the things you dig up. Practice and predict before implementing and remember it’s okay to be wrong. The goal is to get better at understanding people and building intuition around their desires.

Engage Community.

Building Relationships and being open to learning when and where ever you can. The best way to do this is to engage in communities, groups and networks.

Talk to other business owners, entrepreneurs, managers that operate in your industry. or even outside of it (remember, take a step back sometimes.) Join networking groups, meet-up groups, association, chambers of commerce, anywhere that you can engage with others that have similar goals, tasks, and passions.

Within these groups, it is commonly known you might get a sales pitch or presentation, but more than often you will meet people who are eager to share their experiences and knowledge.

Relationships and community are at the core of all small business owners or entrepreneurs and one of the most powerful things you can do to get started.

Being open to learning how people make groundbreaking products and services can influence your own ideas within your business. With a focus on the psychology and humanity of your customer, you’re able to better fit their needs and provide the proper amount of value.

Remember, your customers are human beings that bring with them thoughts, feelings, goals and dreams, not just money.

Provide value to them and make their lives better and they will keep coming back.