The Sophisticated Customer

By Author: Graham Filmer
Total Articles: 62
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As times have changed, so have customers. Customer buying habits are evolving quicker than ever and businesses must be switched on to these changes and understand what can be done to deliver them value.

Nowadays customers are bombarded with messages- when the radio is switched on, when the TV is turned on, and is it working? The answer to that is, probably not. Traditional marketing is no longer seen as an effective means of attracting customers, and certainly not an effective means of retaining them. Brand loyalists are harder to come by and consumers have become increasingly ‘mobile' when making their buying decisions. What modern business is becoming increasingly focused upon is the term Nigel Piercy, Cranfield School of Management uses, - the sophisticated customer'', which describes how the typical customer has now wised up to the traditional marketing game- plan and is seeking new and better ways to be attracted to products. You may have noticed the way the fortunes of television advertising have taken a turn for the worst whilst many industry experts are now talking of social media and customer relationship ...
... management being areas in which to invest.

The answer to meeting the needs of this new customer is not simple and requires innovation and creativity. Strategies need to be formulated that give your customers what they want. Listening to and understanding your customers is important, yet not all of your customers are the same. To add to this complexity what a customer values today may be different to what they will value tomorrow. For example, a customer may want to finance a car today and so the value is focused on what you can offer in terms of price, quality and expertise but once bought may not want to purchase again for a few years. Therefore their value changes- suddenly the value has shifted to insurance, car parts or car loan advice and what to expect in the years to come. The value you give your customers should never end when they exit the dealership; rather it should remain with them for as long as they will want to purchase cars. It is important to research areas your competitors never even thought about that can add value to customers. What can you offer a customer one month after they've taken delivery of their new car? Questions like these prompt creative thinking within your business.

Once you have understood your customers, you must understand the market you operate in so that wise decisions can be made to offer your customers what they really want. In the motor market, the internet plays a critical role in adding value to customers and adds value to this particular market, given that 90% of customers search for a vehicle online before entering the showroom. Could it be said that we now operate in a market with two showrooms, - the one they browse at home, (the internet), and the one they visit to buy, (yours).

Carlyle Finance, one of the leading independent car finance organisations in the UK offer a complete and competitive service to UK car retailers, and have developed an innovative website to help its dealerships understand their customers and create customer value. At www.carlylefinance.com Carlyle Finance is one of the first to offer a dealer locator on its website so that the vehicle, loan advice and quotes are available for customers to view, leading informed customers back to the dealership. The combination of the internet channel and physical resources- your showroom- is incredibly powerful. Carlyle Finance will be offering current customers settlement figures as well as keeping them updated with all the information they need so that they are encouraged to return to the dealership time and time again. It is of great importance to utilise the web, the resources in the showroom and the value the right partner/suppliers bring you to maximise the many opportunities that exist in this modern and evolving market.

Carlyle Finance continuously seeks to help you through the process of understanding your customers, the marketplace and ways to add value to your business. It is not an easy process, but working together we can help find innovative solutions to meeting your customers' needs.

For further information on what Carlyle Finance can do for your business, please visit www.carlylefinance.com and as an example of our innovative approach see www.carloanadviser.co.uk.