{"id":4861,"date":"2019-07-02T15:00:56","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T15:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/?p=4861"},"modified":"2019-11-28T10:28:22","modified_gmt":"2019-11-28T10:28:22","slug":"ideal-customer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/ideal-customer","title":{"rendered":"You already have your ideal customer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"understand<\/p>\n

So, you want to define your ideal customer? <\/p>\n

Spoiler alert: you’re looking right at them. <\/p>\n

They have a use case. They see the value in your product. They have the means and the need to pay for your product. <\/p>\n

Whenever you are establishing customer profiles to make changes to your strategy, whether that’s for the product, marketing, or sales, you should be looking at your existing customers first. <\/p>\n

Learning from our existing customers is how we take the metaphorical temperature of GoSquared<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Who are they? How are they using the product? Are they happy? Is there one request that keeps cropping up? <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Your customers are a valuable source of knowledge. Customer feedback, whether direct or inferred from behaviour is a crucial part of assessing and redesigning your strategy. <\/p>\n

We make our own analytics tool<\/a> to help us do this. It’s free, easy to use, and tells you exactly what you need to know. If you don’t already have access to this data, or if you aren’t getting the metrics you need from your current analytics tool, try it out<\/a>. We’re here to help if you have any questions. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one example where we used our customer\u2019s knowledge and experience to improve our product: <\/h2>\n

Picture this, you\u2019re helping a customer add a colleague to their account \u2014 so they could see the company\u2019s analytics too.<\/p>\n

\u2018Go to the home area.\u2019
\n\u2018What\u2019s the home area?\u2019
\n\u2018Oh, just click the GoSquared logo.\u2019
\n\u2018I don\u2019t see GoSquared written anywhere.\u2019
\n\u2018Oh, it\u2019s just the G on the top left. It doesn\u2019t actually say GoSquared.\u2019
\n\u2018Uh huh\u2026\u2019
\n\u2018Click the settings cog on the lower-right corner of the site thumbnail in the middle\u2026 and then hit sharing.\u2019
\n\u2018Right\u2026\u2019
\n\u2018And then put in your colleague\u2019s email address. It\u2019s really easy!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not<\/strong> easy when you read those steps back to yourself. Sharing analytics with your team should be one of the easiest things to do.<\/p>\n

This was the situation we found ourselves in a few years ago.<\/p>\n

One of the most frustrating things we have come up against is that features we knew people loved, or asked us for, were actually there \u2014 they were just hard to find. <\/p>\n

As we\u2019ve added more features into the dashboard, and added more products to our suite<\/a>, the list of what\u2019s possible to achieve with GoSquared has grown. But so has the complexity of the product. <\/p>\n

In a way, it\u2019s no surprise that we had to keep explaining where team sharing was. <\/p>\n

So how can your current customers help you? And how can you help them? <\/h2>\n

\"how<\/p>\n

Your existing customers are the best place to start when you\u2019re looking for ways to improve your product and find new customers. <\/p>\n

But when you are a small (but powerful!) team, as many of us are, you don\u2019t have the resources to meet with, or even to speak with, every single customer in the way that you\u2019d like to. <\/p>\n

Luckily there are ways to find out what our customers want and need without overstretching our teams and never leaving the office. <\/p>\n

Use an analytics tool and understand your metrics<\/h2>\n

\"use<\/p>\n

Anyone with a website has an incredibly powerful tool at their fingertips. <\/p>\n

There’s so much information that you access by installing an analytics tool<\/a> on your site and by understanding how customers are using your product. <\/p>\n

We make one ourselves<\/a>, and without too much of a shameless plug, it\u2019s designed to do exactly this. To help you to understand your customers better in a simple and easy way<\/a> – without the need to be a data guru. Did we mention that it\u2019s free<\/a>? <\/p>\n

Now, it’s not that you should let your customers call all the shots on your latest strategy. They should be a valued guide, not the captain. There\u2019s a balance that you can reach by understanding how different metrics can help you achieve different goals<\/a>. Goals that suit both your business and your customers. <\/p>\n

Think of your customers as a wise and valued guide to your business. You’re still the captain, but a good captain knows when to follow their gut and when to listen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Know which of your features are the most used <\/h2>\n

\"know<\/p>\n

Where your customers spend the most time is a clear indicator of where they get the most value from your product. <\/p>\n

Instead of going from 0 to 1 by introducing a totally new feature set, think about how you can make incremental but important improvements to your most used features.<\/p>\n

Make sure to compare your least used features against your feature request list. And keep an \u2018informal\u2019 list as well. A place where anyone on the team, particularly anyone who deals directly with customers, can add to when they notice a struggle like the issue we described above. <\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s not that you need to add a feature, it\u2019s that you need to make existing features more obvious or clearer to find. <\/p>\n

Ask the right questions <\/h2>\n

\"ask<\/p>\n

The challenge for customer development is not that they won\u2019t tell you what they want; it\u2019s that they don\u2019t know what to say when you ask them. <\/p>\n

So you have to be a translator. You have to be smart about working out what your customers want from you and your product.<\/p>\n

Note: this isn\u2019t simply asking customers for feature requests. <\/p>\n

Smart companies are listening for hints about the experience their users want. Improving the customer experience is the most radical change you could make and the one that can really get people screaming and shouting. <\/p>\n

Rather than giving your customers something a couple of people say they want, start by working to make the features that the bulk of customer use and love every day better.<\/p>\n

Understand who your customers are<\/h2>\n

\"know<\/p>\n

You\u2019d be surprised at how many companies don\u2019t use the data that\u2019s available<\/a> to them. <\/p>\n

Instead of picking a customer character<\/a> out of thin air – use the data you have and make that character a real person. <\/p>\n

Here are a few things that might help you build up that picture: <\/p>\n