Why the fear of knowing your market?

Why is business afraid to learn what their customer has to tell them? Maybe if they don't ask them they won't have to change their business model if they learn they are no longer providing a need that their customers want. Maybe it's just easier to die a slow death watching customers go to the competition down the block. For the past year I have been travelling around Alberta and I find it interesting that most businesses do not believe in research that helps them better understand their lifeblood; their consumer or customer.


Often the SME believes they already know the market they are selling to. They've worked in it for years, or they are out meeting customers every day. They find it difficult to get their head around paying for consumer insight they think they already know. The point is do they really know what is driving consumer choice right now? Do they really believe that what consumer's did in the past 10 years will be what they do today? Do they really believe seeing consumers everyday is the same thing as understanding their consumers' emotional drivers and trigger points?


When it comes to paying for some insight sessions and the insight report generated from them, many balk because they are not familiar with the benefits it will have on their business. This is an attitude that businesses in the West need to face if they want to be differentiated and sustainable going forward.


Simply put, if you do not know who you are communicating with, and how their ever changing beliefs impact every aspect of your business, then you will not succeed. Spending time and money on uncovering what makes your lifeblood tick is probably the most important investment you will make in these uncertain times.