What customers value most changes constantly, and the pace of change has increased exponentially with the economic recession.

One year ago people were looking at the financial stability of a company before purchasing its products, according to surveys conducted by my company, Smart Advantage. No one wants to discover that the appliance store has gone out of business when her washing machine breaks down. Now, on-time delivery outranks financial stability. So many businesses cut back their inventory during the worst of the recession that customers have found it’s difficult to get what they want on time.

Ascertaining why customers buy particular products or services from particular companies should be an essential practice for any business owner during any economic cycle, but most don’t do it. My analysis of 10 years of double-blind customer market research for more than 100 businesses revealed that 90 percent of the time, most businesses don’t know their customers’ top values. They are often shocked to learn what is at the top of the customer’s value list.

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