How does brand marketing capture user needs?

Some people regard cars as a means of transportation, while others regard them as their "lover". Their understandings and needs are different. If you don’t know what the users’ needs are, you can’t study operations, so ask a good question and use it to gain insight into users. Asking good questions is equivalent to solving half of the problem, and the process is a process of in-depth thinking. The following examples can help us understand two types of questioning models: purposeful and exploratory question models.

Purposeful demand issues

Suppose boss x runs a barber shop. His business has been getting worse recently and the customer churn rate is high. He wants to reduce the customer churn rate by means of user points.

The boss asked: How should we design the points system to reduce user churn rate?

Employee Storm: Design a cumulative points system, the more you accumulate, the more rewards you can get; design a points mechanism such as recharge, use, and rewards to meet the needs of various users...

Users said: Points should not be too complicated, I hope they can be exchanged for things; if points can be exchanged with bank and telecom deposits...

Conclusion: The answer after asking is not what the boss needs, because without knowing the reason for the low turnover rate, it is naturally impossible to make targeted improvements.

Improvement issues:

The first step is to remove the part of the problem that involves the solution. “How to design a points system” is a possible solution to user churn rate and should not be the main issue here.

The second step is to transform the “difficult problem” mode into the “doubt” mode. That is, "what to do" and "how" are converted into "why", because it is necessary to understand the reasons behind the problem in order to discover user needs.

Reframe the question to: Why is the user churn rate so high? The process of answering this question is a three-dimensional analysis of user needs, and points are just a strategy to match part of the user needs.

Before you understand the essence of a business problem, any solution you propose is just empty talk, because who will implement your suggestions? "Increased user churn rate" is a prominent phenomenon occurring in current institutions. We need to know what the user needs are?

Gain insight into the conflicts that arise between people and users across the entire product line; where there is conflict, there is demand.

Brainstorming requires the participation of all personnel in the entire product line of the organization, because we are not sure at which point conflicts will arise among users. All personnel in the product line chain of this barber shop, including reception, front desk, shampooing, styling, beauty/SPA, customer service, logistics/operations, etc., need to think about the reasons for the "increased churn rate" and their own relationship. The questions obtained at each touchpoint will be different, and the users' needs will be listed layer by layer.

The needs are real, but not all of them need to be met.

User needs are complex, diverse, and ever-changing. We cannot cater to everything. Our goal this time is to explore the "churn rate issue." Through employee feedback and market analysis, if the problem is that the level of after-sales service is not good enough, we will design a points system to improve customer relationships. When discussing this solution, we should consider which in-store project will be used to serve the points, and which projects will implement the points feedback service, so as to realize the problem and solve it together.

Since demand is so important, do we need to meet all the requirements raised by users? Actually, it is not. Sometimes users raise false demands or strong demands. For example, I hope to receive coupons worth 100 yuan off for purchases over 100 yuan every day, which is a strong demand. I want a bicycle that runs as fast and energy-saving as a motorcycle, which is a false demand. To guide users to discover their real needs, we need to understand them better than they do themselves, so we need to use exploratory questions to discover their real needs.

Exploratory requirements questions

Barber shop owner x hopes to provide users with a better experience through new products and new services.

The boss asked: What other services can we provide to users?

Employee Storm: Improve the sense of service and make employees noble; learn from Haidilao’s techniques and give away sunflower seeds to keep customers from getting bored...

The user said: Everything else is good, but the price is a bit expensive; the previous hairstylist has left, and now I need to discuss my requirements with the new hairstylist...

Improved questions: Exploratory demand questions are not based on the original questions, but are considered from the perspective of internal operational content.

Step 1: Explain what the core product is and use the core product to raise questions. For example, the core product is "haircut".

Step 2: Ask questions in the “core product + why” mode. At the same time, "what" this answer means to the user needs to be explored. For example, why get a haircut? Answer: Maintain your image and mood.

Step 3: Ask "Anything else" based on the conclusion of step 2. This is the best time to get into the boss's original question. For example, what other services or products can maintain the image and mood?

Adjust the question to: ① What other services or products can maintain your image and mood? ②What does it mean for users to maintain a good mood?

For the first question, considering a wider market can help discover various types of competitors, which is conducive to differentiated positioning and achieving certain cooperation opportunities; for the second question, it helps to think about user value and significance, which is conducive to deepening the relationship with users and customizing personalized services and experiences.

Asking the right questions can not only help you calmly face competition and learn industry essentials horizontally, but also help you delve into the users' potential deep needs vertically.

However, the exploratory question approach is prone to misunderstandings when asking the second step of questions. When asked why they want to get a haircut, answering "because my hair has grown long" will not allow you to move on to the third step of exploring the needs. You need to bring out the user's thinking in a timely manner. There are three principles to good guidance:

1. Guide users to answer their feelings, and do not focus on answering objective phenomena. Feelings are an internal need, and objective phenomena are visible to the naked eye.

2. Guide users to talk about the value and function of products or services. The demand is not stimulated by the product. For example, “the user wants to keep the air moist” is the problem the user wants to solve, and wanting a humidifier is just the result.

3. Guide users to explore “what it means” to answer the question “why choose a product or service?” For example, "users want to keep the air moist" becomes "want to make the skin elastic", "want to keep the nasal cavity from drying out"...

The purpose of asking questions is not to find standard answers. What is truly valuable is reflecting on the problem during the process of solving it. Ask good questions to trigger thinking at a broader level and scope, study the deeper causes, value and significance of the problem, and truly gain insight into user needs.