{"id":23496,"date":"2020-04-21T17:47:38","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T16:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/?p=23496"},"modified":"2020-09-17T11:10:31","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T10:10:31","slug":"reading-list-know-your-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/reading-list-know-your-customers\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading list: Know your customers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our mission, as we have often discussed, is to make internet business personal<\/a> \u2013 that goal underpins everything we do and build.<\/p>\n

One key aspect of forging these personal relationships is not just that customers feel they have a personal connection with a business, but that businesses can actually benefit from knowing their customers.<\/p>\n

The reason real-world businesses can thrive by having good relationships with their customers is not just down to loyalty and trust, though that is important, but also because they can easily tell what their customers need \u2013 after all, they get to talk to them regularly. Knowing their customers like this allows them to adjust depending on those needs.<\/p>\n

“The scale of doing business on the internet means that sense of personal connection can feel hard to emulate, but it absolutely is possible \u2013 it just requires thoughtful, consistent effort”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The scale of doing business on the internet means that sense of personal connection can feel hard to emulate, but it absolutely is possible \u2013 it just requires thoughtful, consistent effort. That is even more true during the current COVID-19 crisis<\/a>, when many businesses are suddenly operating online and are having to adjust to an entirely new form of relationship with their customers.<\/p>\n

From the earliest days of Inside Intercom<\/a>, we have frequently discussed the need to better know your customers, and in the latest in our series of posts looking back through the archive<\/a>, we present a selection of some of our best posts on the topic, covering everything from gathering customer feedback to creating accurate customer segmentation, from correctly framing questions to using the feedback to shape your roadmap.<\/p>\n

Have you tried talking to your customers?<\/h2>\n

Knowing your customers was a core part of Intercom\u2019s DNA from the very beginning, as this early post<\/a> by our co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Des Traynor, demonstrates. Frequent, easy, open and contextual communication with customers<\/a> yields incredible benefits, above all the information required to iterate and improve your product.<\/p>\n

Key takeaway:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI spend about 20-25% of my week talking with customers learning who they are, what their product does, where they were based, how often they use Intercom, how they found us, what they love, where they want to see improvements etc. Any question beginning with ‘I wonder if anyone\u2026’ inevitably makes it\u2019s way into my next conversations with customers. Rather than guessing, debating, or testing there is so much value in just asking.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Who\u2019s who: Understanding your business with customer segmentation<\/h2>\n

How do you continue to know your customers once you have grown beyond a certain size, and when your customers are not just numerous but increasingly diverse? That was the challenge we faced a few years ago, and this piece<\/a> by Business Operations Manager Rahul Reddy explores our response \u2013 the creation of intricate and thoughtful customer segmentation<\/a>. Rahul shares a detailed playbook for how to approach segmentation and not lose sight of your customers.<\/p>\n

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Key takeaway:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you have these segments, you can build the right product, set the right distribution and positioning, and match the right sales motion to each customer, while also refining your segments over time. Done well, it\u2019s a model that gives anyone at your company an immediate understanding of your customers.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Customer feedback strategy: How to collect, analyze and take action<\/h2>\n

This post takes a deep dive on the art and science of customer feedback<\/a>, with rules and tips for getting the real, actionable insights from your discussions with customers. It also provides a seven-step plan for analyzing your customer feedback, to discern the signal from the noise.<\/p>\n

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Key takeaway:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you\u2019ve determined how you collect customer feedback and decided which customers\u2019 feedback you want to pay attention to, how do you transform customer feedback into something you can act on as a company? How can you take a jumble of feedback from open-ended questions and use it to inform your product roadmap? Follow these steps, and you\u2019ll have a prioritized list of customer insights you can act upon with confidence.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Intercom on Product: How we unlock the power of feedback<\/h2>\n

This episode of the Intercom on Product podcast features a fascinating conversation between Des and SVP of Product Paul Adams on how we translate all that feedback into a product roadmap<\/a>. Key to that process is listening not just to your customers, but also finding a way to hear the feedback from your \u201cunmet customers\u201d \u2013 those prospects who for whatever reason didn\u2019t or couldn\u2019t sign up to become customers.<\/p>\n