The proof - why it (literally) pays to be nosy

If either you or your management are on the fence about the value of investing resources into customer interviews, here’s what I’d share with you if we were meeting in person and you still needed convincing:

Research from Profitwell shows that companies that talk to 10 or more customers a month for the purpose of customer research, grow 2-3X faster than those who don’t.
(The report is no longer online, but it’s widely quoted if you did want to verify it).

I’d tell you some of my client stories, stories like:

• The start-up client who invested heavily in brand development, and ended up centering their brand on one key point of difference. 18 months on, with growth stagnant, customer research uncovered that while the point of difference was something that no other competitor offered, their potential customers simply didn’t place any value on that point of difference. It just wasn’t important to them.

• The client who was paying an agency a decent sum for LinkedIn and Facebook ads. Our interviews highlighted their clients weren’t even on LinkedIn or Facebook, but they did relax most evenings by watching YouTube.

• The client who hadn’t sold a single $20K product in 18 months, despite engaging a number of different marketing and sales consultants to help. I interviewed eight past buyers, changed the sales copy based on the learnings and within 2 months he made his first sale of the year.

• About the client who confidently told me the three main reasons people choose their business over the competitor, who is literally across the road. When I interviewed their customers however, none of them really talked about those three things, but they all mentioned the #1 reason they chose my client. They all said the same thing, and that thing was a complete surprise to my client.