One of the most important traits that every entrepreneur should have

If we will think what traits every entrepreneur should have, besides common - leadership, communication, networking, strategic skills and so on, we will find one skill that, maybe, defines all future success of a business. This is a fundamental skill that lies in the base of successful venture regardless of size, industry, life-cycle stage etc. Now I'm talking about marketing vision. Marketing vision not as a marketing discipline, but as an ability to feel, understand your market, your customer, his needs and wants, problems that your product will address.

In general, to be successful you have to satisfy your customer's needs better then your competitors, the value of your product/service need to be higher and you should offer a complex, not product, but problem-oriented solution.

The problem arises when we communicate to customer our product's features, but not the benefits that are brought by our product. We should remember that customers don't need your product, they want to solve their problems.

So, how we can achieve this full understanding of customers needs and in this way create more appropriate product portfolio? Do we need any sophisticated software tools? No, we don't. Only what we need is to change the way how we work with clients by making shift from one-way to two-way communications. By establishing "customer connection", communicating with our clients, involving them in our company's operations (marketing, R&D, customer service) we can not just create more successful market proposition but also increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.