Friday Q&A: How to find out what “success” means to your customers

Every Friday, we’re answering your questions about business, startups, customer success and more.
Happy Friday!
This week’s question is:

Churn is a tough beast to battle, and it’s something that every business struggles with.
The most powerful thing you can do to reduce churn—if you haven’t done it yet—is going to sound simple and obvious, but so few actually take the time to do it: build a real relationship with your customers. Find out who they are, what they want, what they don’t want, and how you can make them happier than they could ever be with your competitors.
Every customer that signs up for Groove gets an email from me with a personal welcome and a simple question: why did you sign up for Groove?

I read every response, and we get huge insights from this about each customer and what success actually means to them, which helps us create a better experience that’s tailored to their needs.
This is email is just one of the things we do to accomplish this, but if there’s one thing I wish I had done more of when we were just starting out, it’s getting to know our customers and building deep relationships.
5 Approaches To Total Quality Management
If you’re operating a small business, you’re always thinking about how to make your product or service as good as it can be. And you’re putting the best of those ideas into action. But are those changes having a tangible impact on customer satisfaction? Are there other areas where your resources would be better spent? […]
Becoming an Entrepreneur: How I Started My Very First Business with Just $300
My story of becoming an entrepreneur—and how I nearly lost everything on the very first day. “BOOM.” The vehicle shook, and I startled. “What the hell was that?,” I thought. And then, as my little car slowed to a crawl, and then to a stop, my excitement turned to a sigh of irritation as I […]

