Do you know your market?

Last week the Planning for Change seminar was held at the HSBC Harbourview Centre .

It was jointly hosted by the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) and HSBC.

 Lester Nelson, HSBC relationship manager, acted as the moderator. He provided an overview from Part 1, which was held on March 13.

Following Mr. Nelson’s overview, Jamillah Lodge, BEDC business development officer, broke the ice with a networking activity that allowed attendees to identify their company’s core values and then discuss them with their table mates.  

Travis Tucker, HSBC product marketing manager, opened for the next presenter using Starbucks as an example of how it is possible to identify opportunities in the market based on a thorough understanding of your target market.  

He stated that Starbucks entered in the market charging twice what people would normally pay for coffee.  

This worked for them because they realized that there was an underserved market of professionals with disposable income who would be willing to pay more for a better experience.  

Nicole Warren, general manager of Brown & Co., provided detailed information on how businesses should endeavour to identify and understand their customer to make strategic decisions to guide their company.  

 Using some of her own personal examples of managing and helping to advance business at Brown & Co, she provided some practical tips that attendees could use to help them identify their target consumer including: walk where the locals walk; utilize social media; keeping track of where your customer shops overseas; ask questions of your customer, your vendors and your competitors; access available historical sales analysis.  

Belinda Chiaramonte, partner at Expertise discussed how to identify the right people to help you achieve your values and find and keep your customers.  

She shared that engaging employees was key to ensuring that you have people that are willing to advance the vision and mission of your business.  

Understanding engagement is different for each person she said some key values that guide engagement: fairness, respect and trust.