How much customer-centric is your brand?
Or you're building your product based on assumptions?🤔
👋 Hi, It’s Ritika and welcome to the 66th edition.
"How much customer-centric is your brand?"
It's the question that I ask my clients and they give me these responses:
Still, nearly 50% of companies fail to maintain a strong customer focus (the actual stats is more), leading to dissatisfied ICPs and personas:
Brands often pick pain points and problems to build a product based on either assumptions or something they've experienced themselves (or sometimes random guess from online).
Why? Because validating assumptions takes time, and market evolve so rapidly that many brands prioritize product development over deep customer understanding, often skipping essential customer insights.
But if you spend little bit more emphasise on your customers or possible customers, you'll learn a lot:
Customers feel more connected to your brand building strong brand loyalty, leading to repeat business.
A deeper focus on customer needs reduces churn and keeps customers engaged - increasing customer retention.
Understanding customers helps you proactively address their pain points. You won't build things based out of assumptions anymore.
You'll have more loyal fans and advocates that openly talk about your brand (and will refer it more), driving organic growth.
A customer-first approach fosters trust and long-term engagement. (It works magically)
Companies that prioritize customer experience earn a positive image in the market.
Investors will be able to clearly see the traction, growth and projections.
Here are a few simple yet effective actions you can take regularly without requiring significant effort or breaking the bank.
Find the Most Active Customers and Get Their Insights
Your most active customers can provide some of the most valuable insights. These are the people who repeatedly use your product, can be giving online shoutout to you, and can tell you exactly why they stay—and why others might leave.
Connect with them, schedule calls, and listen to their experiences.
Don’t just talk about your product; understand their pain points and goals (try to build a relationship).
Ask open-ended questions to find out what problems they face and how they’re solving them.
Let them openly give you feedback or reviews on your product.
TL;DR: These conversations not only provide actionable insights but also generate content you can share online, helping others relate to your brand.
📈 "A 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by 25-95%." – Harvard Business Review
Gain a Deep Understanding to build an ICP
Instead of defining a broad, vague ICP that tries to capture an entire market, segment your audience based on:
Urgency – Who needs your product the most right now?
Product capability – Which segment benefits most from your current features?
Ease of market entry – Which audience is the easiest to acquire and retain?
📊 "Companies that invest in customer research and continuously update their personas are 60% more likely to develop products that meet real needs." – McKinsey & Co.
Align Your Brand with Customer Needs
Your brand’s mission and values should be more than just words—they should actively reflect how you serve your customers.
Ask yourself:
Does our brand purpose solve a real problem for customers?
Are our values reflected in how we communicate and deliver value?
Are we making decisions based on customer needs, not just business goals?
🎯 "Brand loyalty isn't built on transactions. It's built on trust, value, and the emotional connection you create with your audience." – Seth Godin
These are the few things you can do today to build a foundation, create a brand that revolves around customers, leading to long-term growth, stronger retention, and an ever-expanding base of loyal advocates.
If you’re not sure how well you know about your customers or if you’re targeting to a right ICP, take this quick quiz:
Thanks for reading! Until next time!
Ritika 👋
Thank you for being a consistent reader of this newsletter, it wouldn’t have reached here without your support. 🤗