Growth is A Process II : Engaging your customers
✨Hi great entrepreneurs and employees with an entrepreneurial mindset, it’s Mariam David-Alozie here?
?It’s September 2021 already; A productive New Month to you! Wow, It’s the ninth month of the year already!
?I’m here to share with you a few of my thoughts on engaging your customers as one of the prerequisites in the process of #growth for a startup.
?In the previous article (last month), I shared my thoughts on how At this earliest stage, we are not to focus too much on growth rather we are to focus on building a product or offering a service people want/love.
✨Also discussed; is the need to take out quality time to talk to and engage your customers as that way you’re aware of the problems they have and quickly give them all the customer care you can give while working at solving their problem(s).
?I do agree with the saying that “No customer no business” as when building a company the first thing to put in place and care for after building your product are your customers/users; not getting an office and not increasing the number of employees( in fact you should hire slowly).
?At Finaclusion one habit we don’t plan to desist from(both at this stage and in the future) is the habit of taking out time to talk to our users/prospective users and also listen to them in order to solve their specific problems efficiently, and also identify customers who are not willing to go the long hall with any growing startup, let an alone yours.
We are committed to giving quality customer support and this I tell you once again within the last few weeks has improved our primary metric even as a Saas(software as a service) company. And this also helps us to keep iterating and build a better product that people want/love.
?In engaging customers, I am of the opinion that we spend most of the time listening to them.
?Secondly, identify customers who accept and value the solution your product provides early enough; they are more like your sponsored users. These customers will be frank and sincere with you when it comes to giving you valuable feedback which you can never get to know about in the way they bring it to light. So hold such users tightly even as you hold the problem you’re solving tightly but let loose your MVP as there’s still room to keep iterating and improving in the process of proving solutions.
?As a Company especially as a startup, believe me, you can never go wrong by keeping up the habit of talking to your customers and that is why our first job as CEOs/Founders after building a product/service is to talk to customers and that is why the office of a Customer Care Representative/Manager is not one to occupy with just anyone; this individual must be one who buys into the problem your company is out to solve, and one empathetic and enthusiastic about being part of the solution carriers/givers as they are the first contact person in the organization.
Please don’t just hire anyone and of course while you’re still in the business of talking to customers, keep improving at it(same for your staff when you do hire rightly).
?Another important point I want to bring to light here is the aspect of creating a balance while making a decision from the place of talking to your customers, here it is;
Don’t forget that not all customers are the same, though sometimes you have one product/solution to offer per time; your customers/prospective customers may have different problems and this can consist of both their real problems (which if you keeping engaging them to listen constructively, you will identify in good time), and
The problems they imagined they have or even foresee they will have.
This been said, you also have to avoid talking(to your customers) about the features your product can do/services you can offer in the future rather, focus on:
? knowing( by listening) the problems they are faced with during their day-to-day operations.
? What brought about the problem and
?Previous ways they have attempted to solve the problem.
✨engaging your customers as enlisted above will help improve on your MVP; solve their basic and most difficult problem thereby helping you improve on your product and this with good customer care over time, will make your product/service a solution they want and love.
✍Until I come your way again, #nevergiveup #keephopealive
#lifeofanentreprenuer #entreprenuerialmindset #finaclusion #wiretoothtechnologies