Creative Retailer: April 2024 Issue – From the Publisher, Heidi Kaisand

Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers
Seth Godin

For as long as I can remember in every business I’ve been involved with, we’ve dug deep into who our customers are and what they want. This is such an important step in running your business. We’re all creative people who could come up with an endless list of products to sell, but if we don’t have customers to buy them, then what is the point of creating them?

The magic lies somewhere in the middle. I have this great product to sell. I have this amazing customer who I know and understand. How do I tweak or improve the product to make it so irresistible that every customer must have it?

As part of this product development process, I’ve also been brainstorming what stops customers from purchasing the product and how I can remove any hesitation about making the purchase.

Here’s an example that crossed my mind about selling fabrics and kits.

Your customer says: “I’ve got too much fabric! I don’t need to buy any more.” Your solution: Provide a quilt kit that includes only a background fabric and a pattern for using scraps. Then customers can feel good about grabbing fabrics out of their stash to complete the quilt.

As you talk with your customers today, really listen to what is stopping them from buying that kit or another piece of fabric. Make a list, then brainstorm how you could solve that problem for them. What you hear and how you could provide the solution might surprise you.

Heidi Kaisand
Publisher, Creative Retailer Magazine and Owner, Hen and Chicks Studio
Email Heidi: heidi@creativeretailer.com
Got a Question? Schedule a Free 30-minute call with Heidi