I have always believed that businesses – no matter which industry they operate in, what stage they are in, or how profitable they are – cannot be complacent about one question: “is there a demand for what is being sold?” It may seem like a distracting question to ask, especially when the business is doing well, but, the moment businesses stop asking themselves this question, businesses lose touch with what the market wants – perhaps not immediately, but gradually. Not understanding customers well enough is a chief reason of failure for most new businesses.

For daily deal businesses, it is easy to slide into the assumption that, because some consumers have signed up for the newsletter, they are very likely to be interested in whatever is on offer. But vendors are blinded by their own offering – the florist would always praise his own flowers. Entrepreneurs new to the industry would think it is a simple task to get people to hand over their hard-earned money. Groupon is making a lot of dough, so it could not be that hard, could it? Just slap on a deal on the home page, shoot off a bunch of emails, and they will all buy in droves, right?

Not really. Business is hard, and one of the best ways to make it easier is to communicate often with the people from whom you want money. Very few businesses are willing to get close and personal with their customers, and, while not all customers appreciate businesses being proactive (think pesky-sales assistant proactive), those who do present an opportunity to businesses to study and analyze their customers’ wants and needs. Talking to customers may be largely futile – at worst – but think of the possible market insights that can be obtained from even a few obliging customers. It is the cheapest, most instant, and most reliable way to find out if customers even want what is being sold, along with the “why” or “why not.”

It surprises me that some businesses can go through one working day (let alone several working days) without any of its employees speaking or interacting with a customer. We ourselves do not claim to understand our customers very well, but we are trying our best not to forgo any opportunity to learn from our customers. For us, at Zuupy, we try to make it a lifestyle, a habit, and a culture to grab hold of every possible opportunity to get close with our customers. Customer support email? Great, a good opportunity to interact with customers and hear their grievances. Numbers going down? Shoot them emails and ask them what went wrong. Holiday season coming soon? Send them greeting cards, wish them well, and take the chance to remind them of our progress and maybe give away some freebies.

The moral of the story is, simply, you cannot understand your customers enough. Keep learning. We are trying to. You should too.