When you are building a startup you need to do whatever it takes to make your customer successful. And it’s not just about you or your product. It’s about all that other stuff you do.
It’s about protecting your customers from harm (using a salt bucket, if necessary). It’s about being an idea machine and giving them new ways to improve their product and grow their business.
It’s about bringing everything to the table for your customers, even if those things don’t have anything to do with the core product you sell…
- They want to run an event? Find them a venue.
- They mention they’re taking their wife to dinner next weekend? Ask your foodie friends to make some suggestions.
- They are trying to change jobs? Help them find a new gig even if it is not in your immediate best interest.
For instance, our product has little to do with interviewing, or acquisition marketing, or forming a seed fund. Yet those are all topics that have come up with my clients in the last few weeks. I’m doing my best to connect them with people who can help them with those things – or sharing my 2 cents when I have the skills and expertise to add value directly.
My startup is in the early days and success is far from guaranteed, but I know that if I model people like this that the journey will be a whole lot easier.