Instead of hoping that people will take an unrewarded survey (which some people will, but the ones who do it might not accurately reflect your target market demographic...), instead...
Indeed... the people that cared to fill out the survey, might be a poor representation of your customer base (both present and
potential customers). So if you take that as a guide, you may be steering in the wrong direction.
READ through the posts on this forum until you are completely exhausted and can't take any more. You'll learn more about what flashlight fanatics want to buy than any survey will ever tell you! 🙂
Respectfully
disagree: TS'ers clientele and CPF users will have significant overlap, but they're 2 different sets of people. Along the same lines, TS might as well ask users of ehm.. "that other flashlight forum".
😀 :duck:
I reached out here mostly because flashaholics are very passionate and meticulous people. When you're looking at a flashlight for purchase you're looking at specific things. I'm still learning about the ins and outs of it all, but seeing a macro-like overview of what the experts look at will help me in fleshing out a guide designed for beginners both on a personal and a professional level. I also wanted input in case there were aspects of flashlights that you look for, but I don't know how to look for since I'm so new.
It's good that you're reaching out. But what flashoholics look for in lights, might be very different from what your company's customers look for. What's more: maybe they don't even know what they're looking for, and only know it when they see it (or after ordering & receiving their new gear).
So I'd think the most important thing is to
just listen to your customers. Any feedback you get (good
and bad) is precious, not in the least because it's from someone who already bought from you, or is about to. Use that feedback to improve service, and offer the stuff that your customers want. Thus: make it easier for customers to give feedback. Some sort of rating/comment system for shop inventory, comes to mind. In a way that's "self-service" for customers, where you can sit back & read at leisure what people say about stuff they bought. And a low-barrier channel to provide product support, which may be of interest to other / future buyers of the same. Or consider an easy to use "suggest product to add to shop" button.
Personally I prefer "what a customer
needs, and what a customer
says he/she needs, may not always be the same". Read: there are times where it's good to push customers in a direction other than what they asked for, if you're
sure it'll suit them better. Products that are a little more expensive, but safer, come to mind. But that's just one example.
In general though, what your customers ask for, is king - don't make the mistake of thinking
you know better what's best for
them.
