EPISODE 34 OF WHAT WOULD THEY DO? THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PODCAST FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
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In today’s episode, I’m exploring what it really takes to create a customer-first business (even if you’re a solo operator without a huge team, elaborate marketing budgets, or an expensive tech stack.
I break down what a customer-first mindset actually means, why it’s about consistent, small shifts rather than big, overwhelming overhauls, and how you can start making simple changes today to create remarkable experiences for your audience and customers.
From listening to customer signals and anticipating their needs to streamlining your communications and personalizing your offers, this episode is packed with practical strategies you can apply immediately, no matter the size of your business.
If you’ve been wondering how to stand out in an AI-driven online space where everyone sounds the same, this conversation will give you a clear path forward.
What we cover:
What “customer-first” really means — and why it’s not just about customer service.
How to start putting your customers in the driver’s seat of their journey.
Practical ways to leverage data and simple tools to personalize their experience.
Why small, consistent actions beat one-off “quick fixes” every time.
Low-lift strategies you can implement right now — like personal welcome videos, better FAQs, and strategic follow-ups.
Soundbites:
“In today’s online space, our audience moves through our offer suite in a very unique manner because everyone is in a different position. Everyone is in a different mindset. So it really comes down to identifying the key signals and behavior that your customers need to display in order to be ready to receive a certain offer or a certain message and then acting on it.”
“What does customer first really mean? And the definition absolutely could be different for you and me. But when I think of customer first, what comes to mind is prioritizing your customer needs, their feelings, and the way they experience your brand with every interaction.”
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Your next steps:
Check out the resources I mention (affiliate links):
Bonjoro (save 15% for the lifetime of your paid plan!)
Find out how you can get my strategic customer experience brain on your brand here.
Grab the FREE State of the Customer online business industry report with first-hand findings, gaps & opportunities PLUS proven strategies to boost your customer experience. Download FREE here!
Join the Retention Lab 🧪, the membership for savvy online business owners determined to grow their revenue, referrals and repeat business without more marketing. Join here!
Check out my favourite CX tools and resources here.
Episode Transcript:
Nadine Nethery (00:00)
Welcome to another episode. This week we’re shaking things up.
We need to take a closer look at what it really takes to shift to a customer first business, which is so important in the age of AI where
it feels like everyone is churning up content. Everyone sounds the same. Everyone looks the same. So how can we as online business owners stand out for the right reasons, create remarkable customer experiences and touch points and make a conscious shift, not only in one email, in one post.
The good news is that you absolutely don’t need a huge team. You don’t need a fancy tech stack or a big budget to build a customer first business. Look at me. I am a one woman show. I don’t have a fancy tech stack. I am very conscious of my subscriptions and I leverage data and
the tech tools that I already have in my business and my creativity to come up with ways to engage my audience to get them to buy for the first time and the next time. So today I’m breaking down what a customer first mindset really means and how you can start making that shift
with the tools and the time you have at your disposal.
So what does customer first really mean? And the definition absolutely could be different for you and me. But when I think of customer first, what comes to mind is prioritizing your customer needs, their feelings, and the way they experience your brand with every interaction. So how I approach my marketing isn’t disjointed. There is strategy behind it.
I love to put my audience, my subscribers, my customers in the driver’s seat of their customer journey. That means, yes, while I launch at times, 90 % of the time, my subscribers decide which offers they receive and which path they take through my offer suite and through those content pieces that I have prepared for them.
A customer first approach to business is not just good customer service. It’s an attitude that influences every decision in your business, your approach to marketing and also your approach to product development. So creating from a place of service rather than a place of selfishness.
Product development with your customer in mind is super powerful because it means you are actually creating and selling the solution rather than noise. So when I think of customer first actions that don’t cost you money but
can make a huge impact in your business is to begin with listening. So actually paying attention to what your customers are telling you, whether that is via survey, via interviews, via DMs. There are so many opportunities for to actually lean into your customer and find out what they need, what they’re struggling with and what they’re trying to achieve. It also means anticipating their needs.
Allowing your subscriber to send you signals so you can then send them the next logical step rather than swirling them through offers that are completely irrelevant to their situation is super important. And again means people are actually paying attention to what you have to say because it is highly relevant and highly specific to their situation. Another one is clear communication. So don’t add unnecessary fluff. Don’t sugar cold what the product
actually delivers. Be clear with who it’s for, which problem it solves and how much investment, whether it’s time, money is required from your customer to actually get those results. That means you’re attracting the perfect fit customer who will actually get those results. And it means people are more primed to then recommend you to their network and to their connections.
And as we uncovered in the state of the customer report, which you can download for free via the link in the show notes, delivering on a promise quickly and clearly means you are already one step ahead.
If you can make it enjoyable along the way that earns you extra brownie points.
Some things that seem to come to mind for people when they hear the term customer first or customer experience is that, you need a big budget or a big marketing team to pull it off. And customer experience is something the big end of town, the big corporates can worry about. Not true. Customer experience is vital for every business. And it is your opportunity to create remarkable experiences that make you stand out from everyone else.
And that means you’re no longer competing on price because people buy into the experience and buy into that next level support and that feeling that comes when they work with you. What I would say here is that people simply don’t have the tech tools to pull it off. I
have Drip as my email platform, which is amazing when it comes to analytics to insights. I have Bonjoro, which pulls off the personal video messages that I love, love, love. You would have heard me talk about them if you are a long-term listener. I am using ConvertBox, which are little strategic pop-up boxes that you can place inside your learning portal on the website.
I’m sharing more on that strategy inside Retention Lab. I am using Thrivecart to facilitate my checkout processes. know, purchasing my membership is hosted inside Thrivecard I’m using Airtable to keep track of
the actions my members are taking, and then also Zapier to a certain extent to automate things on the backend and have my tools talk to each other so I know what people are doing, which signals they’re sending me and how I can leverage them inside my email platform to communicate with those customers in a very specific manner.
So now let’s talk about some of the key shifts it takes.
to become a customer first business. The combination of those shifts is what we’re working on inside Retention Lab via the formulas that are waiting for you to execute. They stack on top of each other, they leverage each other, and ultimately they work towards your own powerful customer retention system where the customer experience and
putting your customer behind the steering wheel of their customer journey really work to your advantage in the long run. What it takes is listening actively. using surveys to tap into the sentiment, having direct conversations with your customers and with your audience and inviting informal feedback at all times. You need to simplify your communications being clear, honest and timely.
and be one step ahead. So you anticipate what people need to hear to get their results.
Next up we have mapping your customer journey and while that sounds all fancy in today’s online space, our audience really moves.
through our offer suite in a very unique manner because everyone is in a different position. Everyone is in a different mindset. So it really comes down to identifying the key signals and behavior that your customers need to display in order to be ready to receive a certain offer or a certain message and then acting on it.
There are strategic ways you can do that inside your email platform that then allow you to customize the customer journey through your offer suite for every subscriber. It also comes down to prioritizing the moments that matter. So leveraging strategic high impact interactions that you create on purpose which then allows you to no longer push a hard sell all the time.
Right? So you again, anticipate how you can nudge your subscriber, your audience member to be primed and ready to invest in your offer. And customer first mindsets require you to be responsive and adaptable at all times. It’s one thing to have a set in concrete path that you want to take people down. That is not a customer first mindset.
customer first approaches allow your business to act on feedback quickly. If you have fresh insights, act on them, show your subscribers that you truly care. And very important here as well, while you allow people to, send you signals and then you act on them, you need to allow your subscribers to opt into certain things and also on the flip side to opt out of certain things once they’ve worked out that this is not for them right now.
That allows you to tailor their path, to remove them from a certain offer and to respect their time and headspace in the moment. So quick things you can do today if you wanted to start shifting towards a customer first business. While it is an overall shift in your business, there are quick,
shifts that you can make to start playing around with customer first strategies and see how they feel in your business. You can start with sending a personal welcome video anytime someone joins your membership or becomes a one-on-one customer.
You can also include a simple FAQ section on your service page for example, on your sales page for your course where you really listen to the objections, the concerns, the hesitations your audience has and then leverage them in that FAQ section to give your audience peace of mind before they’re buying.
You can also follow up with a quick check-in a week after the deliverables. So don’t advertise it totally, pop up in people’s inboxes unexpected and see what happens.
And last but not least, you can also invite your customers to share one thing with you today that you could do better. Be prepared for brutally honest responses, but actually act on it and show that you genuinely care.
So to wrap today’s episode up, I would just love you to understand that shifting to a customer first business is about mindset and small consistent actions because looking at the big picture, looking at what I just shared with you can feel totally overwhelming, right? So it is a gradual shift. It is a conscious decision at the beginning, but it is baby steps that are going to get you there. So really,
listening to your audience, starting with that, listening to what they’re telling you, then sitting down with yourself or your team and mapping out how you can act on that feedback. Those baby steps, those consistent actions again, they don’t need big budgets, they don’t need big teams, they don’t need fancy tech tools, all they need is your commitment and your emotional investment.
in your business in the long run because leaning into your audience and putting them at the centre of your business is going to benefit you in the long run because first time buyers become long-term raving being fans. Today what I would love you to do is have a look at the feedback you already have from your customers from your audience and
potentially consider sourcing some fresh insights so you get a real feel for what they love, what they need to hear from you and what they’re lacking. And then pick one low lift shift that you can start with before mapping out the bigger picture, the bigger transition to a customer first business. And if you feel like you want support with that, I would love to support you inside Retention Lab,
which is the perfect place to map out your own powerful retention system inside the incubator. I work with you one-on-one to take a look at your data, at your insights, to take a look at your brand touch points and to map out a strategy to shift to a customer first business in the long term. If you enjoyed today’s episode and you would love my brain on your specific business related obstacle,
Please submit your question via the link in the show notes. You can do that anonymously or leave your details and I give you a quick shout out and I myself or a guest expert will give you actionable strategies to help you overcome that obstacle. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please hit subscribe, follow and share it with your biz buddies and I will see you next week.
