Three ways to give your customers what they want

Customers are standing up for a new way of doing business. As co-founder of xigxag, the only B Corp Certified audiobook platform, it’s become business imperative to listen, respond and adapt to customer needs. 

But what exactly do customers want? 

And if they can’t buy from us, they still won’t buy from an unsustainable competitor – even if it’s the only option.   

So, if sustainability is this important, how can we build it into every aspect of the business? 

1. Use customer feedback as your roadmap 

Customers will tell you what they need. Whether this is a sustainable requirement or something immediate such as, “this isn’t working for me right now” or “I wish I could do this with your product”.  

It’s an art and science to listen to all of those needs, consider them, prioritize them, and address them in a roadmap, but it’s what you need to do if you want them to stick around. 

The more you listen, plan and do, the easier it will be to build it into the organization’s fabric.  

2. Develop your purpose 

Purpose is the sum of all of your ambitions.  

At xigxag, our purpose is to shape the future of books with an exciting listen-and-read experience that makes books more accessible, engaging and sustainable.  

While we’ve always had a clear vision of the impact we want to make, our purpose is constantly evolving – every day we make decisions that reinforce what we stand for.   

Why? Because companies who have a clear purpose find it easier to attract and retain the best talent, they grow faster on average than their competitors, achieve a higher performing workforce and increased customer satisfaction. 

Having a clear purpose also makes it much easier to endure the challenges you will inevitably face as a business. 

It makes the journey feel worthwhile – even on the hardest days.   

If you’re not sure what your purpose is, ask yourself this: What’s important to you? What do you stand for? What impact do you want to make? And how will you let people know?  

3. Make your mission official 

External accreditation is a brilliant way to ‘prove’ your responsible and sustainable business credentials to customers. 

We’ve been named as Ethical Consumer Best Buy and recently became B Corp Certified, joining a global community who use business as a force for good.   

The journey to becoming B Corp certified was invaluable for helping us to understand a best practice for sustainability, communicate our purpose, and gain access to a global community of like-minded businesses. 

As small to medium-sized businesses, we have a unique opportunity to be the change we want to see. Rather than being the business leader who shouts the loudest, choose instead to be one who listens to their customers.