What do your customers want? (Small Business Ecommerce Link Digest – July 18, 2008)

Customers feed business. And we’re all hungry. In the Maslow Hierarchy of Business, customers trump product, service, capital and personnel. Which means we’re all looking for ways to find customers. Especially in these trying times. Business tough right now? Here’s a some good thoughts on what customers are looking for. And how you can use the Web to look for them. Read on, Big Thinkers.

• Jackie Huba at Church of the Customer blog leads off with a profile of one small business and their process for gaining repeat customers. Jackie’s also got a phenomenal interview with Rob Walker about what happens to your brand when customers get their hands on it. Best quote: “Consumers determine brand meaning whether anyone ‘allows’ them to or not. And they don’t need a special website to do it.”. Well worth the read. Getting customers comes with risks. Good. Get over it.
• One of those risks is that customers will expect more from you. Seth Godin offers two examples, one that asks whether small businesses have the right to whine about being small, the other addressing how companies use email to reach customers and how to do it better.
• Analytics can tell you lots about what your customers want. The fine folks at GrokDotCom picks up where we left off looking at bounce rate to set priorities and examines what your bounce rate is trying to tell you. And FOT Linda Bustos shares Get Elastic’s recent webinar with Avanish Kaushik, who looks at what your other metrics are trying to tell you, too.
• Jackie Huba’s partner Ben McConnell adds to the story, explaining why online WOM matters. Why? As Ben points out, “61% of respondents to a recent survey said they check review sites, blogs and other customer feedback forums before buying a new product or service.” Sounds like a good reason.

Enjoy, folks. See you here next week!

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