Giving Consumers What They Want

Anyone who's taken Marketing 101 knows that "giving consumers what they want" isn't some overrated catch - phrase - it's the lifeblood of modern business.

And it's getting harder and harder to do. Especially since consumers are getting more specific about what they want, and today's marketplace is getting better at delivering it to them quickly and with minimal risk and effort. Innovations in retail that seemed novel just a few years ago are now shaping the entire marketplace. Television studios are offering their biggest hits in iPod - friendly formats. Digital radio is aggressively wooing traditional radio's audience. Online retailers are helping to cause widespread shutdowns of traditional brick-and-mortar stores (The Los Angeles Times: Bookshops' Latest Sad Plot Twist, February 7, 2007; Lessons from Tower's Leftovers, December 14, 2006). So when the Washington Post reports that executives are squirming under pressure from consumers to make music downloads universally compatible (Jobs Calls for Open Music Sales, February 7, 2007), it carries some serious weight.

There's a lesson in all of this, and while it may not be a comfortable lesson, it's an extremely important one: Give the customers what they want. Or someone else will.

No matter how small your business, this lesson still applies to you. If your website can't accept check payments, you're behind the curve. If your retail store doesn't accept credit cards, your customers won't have to go far to find one that does.

I'm here to explore some of the best practices in equipping your business with the tools that give customers everything they need to make sound, safe, and spontaneous purchases. Next week, we'll start getting specific. I look forward to seeing you then.