Naperville Business Lawyer on Meeting Customers’ Changing Needs

When you own and operate a business, you have many priorities, but your customers’ satisfaction should be at that top of that list. Without customers, there is no business. Over time, the needs and desires of your customer base may evolve—sometimes quite dramatically—and it is crucial for your company to change to meet their developing needs.

As a business law attorney and a small business owner myself, I know how difficult it can be for some companies to embrace change. Those that cannot or will not, however, risk being left behind—especially in a competitive industry.

A History of Evolution

In 1998, Netflix first began offering online movie rentals in the form of DVDs. The company’s mail order model was innovative and offered a convenient alternative to browsing in brick and mortar video rental stores. More recently, Netflix has become an industry leader in streaming video entertainment. Today, the company has more than 100 million subscribers with more than 54 million in the United States alone.

Since the very beginning, Netflix focused primarily on feature films, following the more traditional movie rental business model, but television shows have always been a part of the company’s offerings. Early on, customers could rent DVDs that contained several full episodes of popular TV series, but when Netflix transitioned to streaming, the idea of “binge-watching” quickly took hold. Subscribers could—and often would—spend an entire weekend watching episode after episode of their favorite shows. The appeal of the television format grew so fast that Netflix began producing its own original episodic programs, beginning with House of Cards, Hemlock Grove, and Orange Is the New Black in 2013.

Shifting Focus

As the popularity of streaming TV programs has grown, so has Netflix’s catalog of available titles. In 2010, the service offered 530 different television shows, along with about 6,750 movies. Today, the number of movies has dropped to about 4,000 while television programs have nearly tripled to almost 1,570.

Netflix continues to commission original TV shows and movies under its own name, but the shift is reflective of subscriber’s viewing habits. Ted Sandaros, the company’s chief content officer observed that regardless of the film titles available, Netflix would always “end up with a third of our watching being movies.” That meant that more than 65 percent of viewers would choose TV shows over movies at any given time. In short, subscribers gravitate toward television programs, so Netflix is essentially giving customers exactly what they want.

Changing With Your Customers

If you are a business owner who is struggling to keep up with changing customer needs, contact a Naperville business law attorney. Call 630-228-9413 for a confidential consultation at the Gierach Law Firm today. With more than 40 years of experience, we have the tools to help you and your business succeed.

Sources:

Quad-City Times

Business Insider