In the past few years Percepta has had several clients come to us saying in essence “We know we have the best products – just help us find the customers”. This is illustrative of the all too common view that since we have the best widget for whatever bench application all we need to do is show it to prospective customers and we won’t be able to keep it in stock.

The presumption that the best performing product will win the business is at best a bit naïve, and at worst recklessly misguided. If building “the best products” is in a Bio-tools company’s DNA and building customer profiles isn’t, then they need some gene therapy.

In his useful book The New Rules Of Marketing & PR, David Meerman Scott reminds us to forget about the products for now and think first about our customers. Scott’s theory applied to our industry essentially translates to this – biotools suppliers need to think more about what customers want from their research tools and not how to make one message fit everyone’s needs with a bunch of, what Scott aptly calls, marketing “gobbledygook”.

This requires a fact-based and up-to-date honest assessment of your customers. But first let’s be honest with ourselves. Has your company profiled your customers? Do you really know what they are doing and who else they are buying from? Do you know if they are loyal adopters or price shoppers? Marketers need to understand what their customers are trying to do in a very detailed and precise way. If they don’t, their marketing messages often end up full of the vague, unclear, or glossy language – in other words “gobbledygook”.

Unfortunately, one-size-fits-all, shotgun marketing is overused in the bio-tools industry and a more personalized intimate connection to your customers must replace it. Customer profiles will help your company personalize a message that resonates with each one of them. Tools companies that fail to learn this will not reach their full potential and may even fail until they do. Want help with profiling your customers? Percepta has affordable programs that might be right for your company. Why not check it out?

Your comments are always welcome.