A business delivers a good product or service to a customer. A satisfied customer tells other people about the business. Those people find the business and become customers. As the years go by, the business builds enough of a reputation and customer base to sustain itself.

If we agree that’s the core loop of a business, then it makes sense to keep as many customers as satisfied as possible.

That means delivering the product or service as intended, and constantly improving or refining it. It means being reliable and earning trust. It means delivering whatever’s in the scope of your project, even if it’s taking longer than anticipated, and that means eating into margins. It means dedicating time and energy to make sure the service or product is delivered, even if the customer is wrong or another service provider failed them. 

It also means cultivating these stories into team and company lore. Here’s one from Figma:

Coda was Figma’s first paid customer. The story goes after Figma’s and Coda’s teams met for a meeting, presumably to make sure Figma was set up properly, Coda emailed Figma to say the fonts broke and that they’d need to try again in several months. Figma’s CTO turned around and drove back to the Coda office to help them troubleshoot the problem (which turned out to be a networking error, not a Figma problem). Figma didn’t just make a great product; it demonstrated a clear commitment to its customers.

These stories from the past will help guide you and your team’s behavior in the future.

Thanks to Peter Kang for the reminder.