How to develop an actionable customer insight

Some of the major companies we know that drastically lost their market share suffered a common setback – they remained static while their customers moved. In a constantly changing world where technology is shaping most businesses, companies need to define their customer segment and establish actionable customer insight. Customer insight is the fundamental human truth or emotion that advises what your customers do, and why they do it.

Martin Mabuya, Senior Manager at Safaricom

Martin Mabuya, Senior Manager – Consumer Segments at Safaricom is a well-seasoned expert around consumer segmentation. His role not only cuts across consumer segment, but also consumer proposition development together with go-to market strategies. Martin has been responsible for the development and launches of Safaricom 4G, Safaricom Advantage and most recently the Safaricom Platinum. Our Acceleration Programme engages with experts such as Martin who dispense their wisdom to our entrepreneurs and last week he spoke to our Kenya cohort during their first workshop where he shared a summarised process of developing the right customer insight. Martin believes that if you don’t have the right insight of your business you have no business being in business. He broke down the process in two major categories as follows

Segment your market
Entrepreneurs must understand that they must target customers based on the realities of their lives. The one shoe fits all ideology does not work anymore. A question you need to ask yourself however is, “Why will this customer choose my product over another?” Segmentation causes you to be disciplined and run your business efficiently. Key considerations to make in segmenting your market include;

Who are you targeting?
How are they diversified
To whom is my business most efficient?

Customers can be segmented in three main categories; demographics, age and income. What you need to put into consideration however, is even though most of your customers might fall in any of these categories, their motivations are different. For example, a 25 year old who has a family does not have the same motivation as a 25 year old who is in their third year of campus. Putting their motivations into perspective will assist you to refine the segmentation process.

Develop an actionable customer insight
You can do this by describing your target customer based on the reality of his or her life. Look at what you know about this person, their gender, age, work place, industry, family, lifestyle, among other characteristics. It is at this point that you devise a plan on how your product can fit into their busy schedule. The customer doesn’t have control of time and as an entrepreneur it is your responsibility to ensure that your product doesn’t consume more time. Consider the following:

Packaging – The customer needs to have the ability to unpackage your product in the shortest time possible. You need to ensure that your product adds convenience to your customer.
Distribution – It should be personalized. Devise a mode of distribution that allows your customer to access your product in the shortest time possible

Martin shared the attached insight map below to guide entrepreneurs in developing actionable customer insights.