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Chapter 9—Understanding what customers need
and how they buy

The next component of the three C’s model is customers.
For the companies I’ve worked with, this step provided a
tremendous amount of value. It’s amazing that assessing
customers and their needs could be a novel concept. But for
many companies it is. The clients that Mezzanine serves are
often thrilled that we will be interviewing their customers and
prospects to systematically identify why and how they buy,
what emerging needs they have, and what perceptions they
have of the company and the competition.

The purpose of the customer assessment is to intimately
understand buying behaviour. There are two ways to
gather this knowledge—secondary and primary research.
Secondary research relies on published information (such
as industry reports) and capturing the customer knowledge
that already exists in your company (sales, customer service,
and management). Primary research involves conducting
interviews and creating surveys directed at current or
prospective customers.

Secondary Research

Secondary research is good if you need some high-level
data, like the size and structure of particular industries you’re
considering to enter. It can help you make decisions about
which industries to pursue or potential untapped markets or
customer bases.

The challenge with secondary research is that there’s either
too much or too little. There are vast amounts of information

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© 2012 Lisa Shepherd