How to stop guessing and finally know what your customers truly want

Too many businesses assume, guess, or simply ignore what your company really looks like from the customer’s perspective.

What do really think about? What do they actually need compared to what you offer? What are their actual problems? What are their decision-making processes and how do they handle challenges and opportunities?

Once you’ve gathered these insights, you can turn them into customer solutions that result in hyper-relevant customer journeys and success, ultimately leading to long-term and high-value customers.

1. Gather Data

Your first step is to find out what makes some customers happy and continue buying from you, and why others choose to leave. You probably already have some of this information, though it may not be collected in one place.

Put together all the data you have from:

2. Conduct Customer Success Calls

Next you want to conduct 1-on-1 calls with 10 – 20 of your current customers, both satisfied and dissatisfied ones. These cals will be 30 – 45 minutes long. Of course, it will always be easier to speak to people who are happy with your business, but you also need to hear from your unhappy customers.

They’ll help you pinpoint weak areas in your business and places for improvement. We’ll go into more detail about how to keep in contact with your customers later.

Prepare For Your Call

Before you start scheduling calls, you need to be able to set up a few things:

• Build a target list of 20-30 people you would like to talk to. Make sure you target the highest-ranking decision-maker possible—the person who recognizes the most value from what you offer or “owns” the pain point you address.
• Decide on 5 - 10 questions you will ask during your meeting. Don't ask typical "what keeps you up at night questions" but go deep with questions that focus on getting real insight.
• Create an email asking your customers to participate. To demonstrate the importance of the request, the email should be sent by the CEO or a high-level executive.

Conducting Your Call

The following skills will help you make the most of your conversations with customers.

When you use and practice these fundamentals, you’ll notice that participants open up in a surprising and revealing way.

• Relax. It’s a conversation, not an interview or survey.
• Have a genuine curiosity.
• Leave your ego—and biases— at the proverbial door.
• No selling. Ever!
• Don't be defensive. Listen and take notes.
• Allow the customer to take the lead. Take the conversation wherever he they want it to go.

Questions To Ask

Decide on 5 – 10 questions you will ask during your meeting. Don’t ask typical “what keeps you up at night questions” but go deep with questions that focus on getting real insight.

• What is your top priority in the next 12 months?
• What do you absolutely want to check off your to-do list in the next 30 days?
• What is on your must-do list that wasn't there 90 days ago?
• What has surprised you the most since signing up with us?
• What are we better at than anyone else?
• Would you consider leaving if a competitor contacted you?
• How can we make you a customer for life?

Get the full list of questions that you can use to gather real insight from your customers.

Timing Of Your Call

The timing for your customer discovery calls depends on your primary goal. You can call whenever the times feel right. 

Don’t wait until there’s a problem to investigate customer satisfaction and figure out what went wrong.

For your long-term business health, it’s better to be more proactive than this. Customers should be asked questions while it still matters to them and while their feedback could still make a difference.

Here are some examples that influence the timing of your calls:

• When someone has made a purchase, it’s a perfect time to gather immediate information on the transaction
• When you’ve made a specific change in your business. Allow time for people to become familiar with the change.
• When you make ongoing improvements to your business and you want to know if customers have noticed, you need to plan the timing.
• When someone leaves and you need ‘exit’ information.

3. Create a strategy and prioritize

Analyze trends, findings, and insights based on your call. Prioritize those that are most important to your goals.

The next steps should include the following:

• Review notes to look for trends and themes.
• Prepare a short list of insights you think are most relevant and useful based on the challenges and opportunities your business is facing.
• Based on your goals, prioritize the implications, recommendations, and actions.
• Always send an email to each participant thanking them for taking the time to speak with you. Make it a point to mention that the information they provided was insightful and will greatly assist your company in its efforts to provide the best customer experience possible.

The main goal of listening to customers is to gain new insights that you can use to improve customer success management, create long-term customers, increase retention, and increase customer lifetime value.