Customer research: know your customer
- Frances Gallimore
- Edited 19 December 2025
- 3 min
- Managing and growing
- Marketing
Whether you sell beauty products or build company websites, you need customers to buy your product or service. Avoid, for example, starting a young people's nightclub in a region where mainly elderly people live. Or giving your customers discounts when what they want is better quality products. Determine who your ideal customer is, what they find important, and where they are active with this handy step-by-step guide.
A target group is a group of people or businesses that are alike. They are roughly the same age, work in the same industry, or have similar interests and needs. If you know who your target audience is, you can better tailor your approach to them. By choosing a clear target audience, you will know what topics to write about on your website and social media. You can use advertisements and other promotional tools more successfully, which can save you a lot of time and money.
Determine your ideal customer, step by step
Whether you offer services to businesses (Business to Business: B2B) or consumers (Business to Consumer: B2C), the steps to determine your ideal customer are similar. This step-by-step guide provides examples for different situations.
Step 1: Determine which problem you are solving
Start with a clear description of your product or service, thinking about the benefits it offers your customer. Ask yourself: what problem am I solving or what need or desire of my customer am I fulfilling? For example, as a tennis coach, are you going to coach children to become professional tennis players or seniors who want to stay active?
Think about what your customers want to achieve. Consider: saving time or money, retaining staff, living a healthy or active lifestyle, finding a new job, looking good or simply having fun.
Step 2. Focus on the type of customer or type of business
Not every business or person is right for you. Focus on a specific industry, organisation or lifestyle. Ask yourself questions such as: Do I prefer to work for small or large businesses? Does a business in technology, healthcare or retail appeal to me? Do I specialise in older people, young people, working people or students? For example: Are you a personal trainer? Then you might choose to mainly help young mothers who want to get back in shape after their pregnancy. This allows you to better tailor your services to the people you most want to help.
Use information from existing customers
Do you already have a number of customers? If so, use the valuable customer data you already have on them. Are these mainly businesses or consumers? What demographic data do you often see, such as certain residential areas, and what is the average purchase amount? Check your invoices or CRM system.
Make sure you adhere to the privacy law GDPR: you may only save and use data that is necessary for your business operations. For example, a customer's place of residence is necessary for shipping orders.
Examples of research questions for customers
You can also ask your customers questions in person or send them a survey. Ask your customers about their wants and needs regarding your product or service. How did they find you (website, social media, through an existing customer), why did they buy from you, what was important to them in their choice? What tips do they have for you? You can use this information to find new customers and assignments.
If you have a clear target group, you can search for data specifically for that group. For example, consider a travel agency for extreme adventure travel. What is your target group's spending pattern and how often do they go on holiday? You can find this information at official agencies such as Statistics Netherlands (CBS, in Dutch) and the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP, in Dutch).
Step 3. Find out who makes the decisions
In B2B in particular, you usually need to contact someone who has a specific role in the business, such as:
- An HR manager, if you offer career training.
- The marketing manager, if you provide online advertising or events.
- The owner, if you work for smaller companies.
In B2C, the customer is usually the end user themselves, but there are exceptions.
As a children's coach, for example, you don't just talk to children, but also to their parents, who decide whether they want to hire you. With older people, it is often their children or carers who help make the decision.
4. Find out who decides
Especially in B2B, you usually need to contact someone who has a specific role in the business, such as:
- An HR manager, if you offer career training.
- The marketing manager, if you provide online advertising or events.
- The owner, if you work for smaller companies.
Example:
- A graphic designer can focus on communications departments in non-profit organisations. Here, the communications manager usually makes these decisions. Or if you are a supplier of promotional gifts, you can focus on the HR manager or management.
In B2C, the customer is usually also the end user. But there are exceptions.
- As a children's coach, for example, you not only talk to children, but also to their parents, who decide whether they want to hire you. In the case of the elderly, it is often their children or informal caregiver who helps make the decision.
Step 4. Test if it works
Do you have a clear idea of your target group? Try it out and discover what works. Talk to potential customers via networks, social media, or try placing an ad aimed at your specific target group on a small budget. Who responds best to your messages or advertisements? Which type of customer gives you the most energy and profit? Continue to adapt your target group, services or products based on what works.
