IDENTIFYING WHAT CUSTOMERS WANT

Before you can decide how best to give customers what they want, you have to understand them. Some licensees fall into the trap of merely offering what they think their customers want, without actually trying to understand their customers at all. Even worse, is where licensees totally ignore what their customers want. For example, deciding to stock a particular product because they themselves like to drink it, and not because it might be enjoyed by their customers!

The best pubs meet the needs of their customers by first knowing what their customers want. This comes from knowing and understanding the pub’s catchment area and the people who live and work within it, as well as the competitors who operate there. It also comes from keeping up to date with trends and changes in the industry.

Researching the pub’s catchment area through ‘desk research’ (for example gathering information using the internet) and regularly visiting the area prior to taking on your pub should provide you with a wealth of information. This information can be used to put together a ‘marketing plan’ of how you intend to promote your business to its customers. (See below for details on putting together a marketing plan.)

While you are running your pub, it is very important to keep up to date with what is going on in your area and update your marketing plan when necessary. This prevents you from being left behind and thus enabling your competitors to take advantage of the situation.

Customers’ wants and needs

Customers’ basic wants and needs include the following:

• interacting with people;
• meeting people;
• being comfortable;
• feeling safe;
• eating and drinking;
• being entertained;
• having fun;
• relaxing;
• belonging.

When a customer chooses which pubs to visit, they consciously, or subconsciously, choose the ones that satisfy some of their basic needs. Customers’ needs are not static and vary with time and circumstances. As different needs become a priority, the customer looks for ways of satisfying these. This results in the customer making new choices according to their needs at the time. For example: ‘Customer A’, who has not eaten for 8 hours, primarily motivated to satisfy his need for food, may be willing to use a ‘shabby’ pub because it happens to serve food and is closest to him! Later, looking to satisfy his needs for interaction, belonging and fun, he is willing to travel 2 miles to another pub where his friends will be. This is an example of the same customer having different needs at different times, motivating him to use different pubs.