Not long ago, I was processing a significant business decision that was consuming much of my time. It had the potential to be a significant investment, so I felt the weight of getting it wrong. I started asking the people around me for their thoughts on the project. These were intelligent people, people I trusted for their perspectives and values. 

The problem, however, is how many varying answers I started receiving. They were all great ideas and potential solutions to drive the project forward. But they didn’t align. 

How was I to determine which voices mattered regarding this particular project? Because it was obvious, there were many options for walking out the process. 

In my reflection, I started to ask a better question: how do our customers (and not just all of our customers) but our best, most favorite customers want to interact with this project?

When I asked that, the answers were clear. 

I could structure my idea around an experience my friend had with another business and raved about. I could model our next offering after one of my favorite brands recently approached something similar.

But I really needed to think about were the behaviors and values of our favorite clients and the answers started to turn out very, very differently.

I could have listened to the brilliant business owners and even knowledgeable friends whose opinions I respected. I could have done this. But I would have approached the project all wrong.

The only voice to listen to when it comes to making major strategic business decisions is that of your client – and even more so – your ideal client.

This is the most fail-proof method to success. It filters the noise and makes answers clear.