I worked in the market research industry for many years. This experience has not only taught me the power of asking questions (we had a say: with great questions comes great answers), but I also learned the importance of collecting information to make informed decisions.

Making decisions is one of the core responsibilities that fall on the shoulders of any entrepreneur, which is why entrepreneurs can feel so lonely at times.

Of course, if you are a business owner, you should trust your gut feelings. They are great counselors. However, you will reach a point in your journey where you need to support your intuitions with facts to ensure you move in the right direction.

Let me take an example: Your next marketing campaign. How can you become better at targeting the right people, precisely at the right time and at the right place, if you do not continuously analyze the data you have collected?

When you make an uninformed decision, you often make assumptions. In today’s fast digital environment, what you think was true yesterday may not be relevant anymore. Therefore, the danger is that your assumptions are wrong.

There is a difference between thinking you know and knowing.

Let me take another example: Your customers. How much do you (think you) know about them? How connected do you believe you are with them? You probably assume that you understand them enough, but I will assume that you do not know them as much as you think you do. Yes, I am making an assumption, although, since it relies on many conversations I have had with clients, start-ups, and entrepreneurs, you can consider it more of a fact than a belief.

I told you I learned about the power of asking questions. Here’s one for you: When was the last time you talked to a customer?

Despite what you may believe, you’re not in their heads. Postulating the contrary is pure arrogance, and you should check your ego.

If you want to test your hypotheses, if you’d like to learn how your clients feel, behave, and most importantly understand why they do the things they do they way they do it, the most efficient approach is to simply ask them.

The more you know about your customers, the more you stay connected with your market, the easier you understand their needs.

As your company will grow, and your role evolves, you will face the risk of being gradually disconnected from your customer base.  

Make it a habit to regularly talk to your clients. For instance, schedule a certain number of meetings with customers every week in your calendar, and stick to it.

Let me give the final words to Ana Perez Garcia, the co-Founder, and CEO of ForestChain (Inter:views episode 68): “The customer is your boss.”  

Indeed. Remember who pays you so you can pay the bills.

Laurent Notin