Listening to your customers’ needs and feedback is a critical step in developing a successful go-to-market strategy and validating your product. In the latest episode of Growth@Scale, Matt Widdoes discusses how essential open communication is when developing product with Jason Purdy, a product lead at Square. Jason shares his experience and best practices for building and scaling products. 

For go-to-market strategies, put your customers first. They’re an invaluable source of feedback that can’t be ignored. Actively engage with your customers regularly, whether through surveys, reviews, or even 1:1 conversations, to ensure you’re tuned into their needs, wants, and concerns. 

Innovation and iteration is the key to growth and success, but before making any big changes to your product, check in with employees and customers. Change for the sake of change rarely pays off, so keep the lines of communication open and be calculated in your product’s evolution. 

When you do make a change, the need for customer feedback is greater than ever. Through rigorous testing and customer feedback, you can stay agile while adapting your product to match the changing needs of your customers and the market. 

Don’t, however, be shy about trying something bold. Innovation involves a substantial amount of risk-taking and you can’t always let customer input hold you back from a breakthrough. Henry Ford famously said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” 

When you surround yourself with a team that is collaborative, communicative, and innovative, and take the time to actively listen to both the market and your customers, you’ll find the road to scaling to be a much smoother ride.