How can you know for certain where your customers first hear about your brand? How do you gain insights into your customers’ pain points? How do you find out which other brand your customers are considering? How about you try asking them?

That’s what Zyro website builder decided to do. The startup offshoot of hosting provider Hostinger devised 5 Golden Questions that deliver actionable insights into their customers’ buying decisions. After signup, each user is sent a questionnaire consisting of 5 questions. Each of these questions is designed to elicit informative responses about how the company builds and markets its product.

By finding out what made customers choose a particular product, the team is able to quickly adopt changes that make the brand more appealing. This model is universal for any business that wants to stay sharp and know what their customers need.

Let’s see what those 5 questions are:

1.  Where exactly did you first find out about us?   

Marketing teams around the world tie themselves in knots trying to find out where their customers discover their brand.

Which messages are working? Where should more investment be made? Which channels are dead weight? All these questions help hone and streamline a company’s marketing mix.

However, this isn’t just about cost and convenience. This is about serving their users from the moment they first hear the brand’s name. Clear attribution of marketing leads allows to tailor the focus to where its real potential customers are.

2.  Please list the top three things that persuaded you to use us rather than a competitor

This may sound like asking for praise, but what this question translates to is “please, tell us what’s working.”

Understanding what is working is almost as important as understanding what’s not working. Confirming that certain bets have paid off should inform all the choices you make in the future.

For example, Zyro devised its original messaging based on what it thought customers would care about. It effectively guessed which features to promote.

How can you ever hone that messaging to be more relevant to what your customers really want without data about what convinced them to purchase in the first place?

3.  Which other options did you consider?

More competitor research comes in the form of question 3. All companies should have an idea of the main competitors within their space. However, understanding in granular detail which are those brands closest to one’s own helps you compare and contrast in the most helpful way.

This question is all about finding out exactly what a competitor is offering that is catching your customers’ attention.

Not only does this allow to make its messaging more distinct and unique, but it also offers the company the chance to determine which features it may need to adopt in the future.

4.  What’s the one thing that nearly stopped you buying from us?

If question 2 is about what a business is doing right, question 4 is about what it’s doing wrong.

It’s never comfortable hearing criticism, but criticism is an essential element of growth. Asking your customers where you need to improve is often the only way that glaring errors get addressed within a company.

Customer obsession is about putting yourself in the mind of the customer and finding their pain points. It’s about constantly striving to do better.

Learn from your errors. Be open to criticism.

5.  What was your biggest challenge, frustration or problem in finding the right website builder?

This final Golden Question is another way of asking “What is it you’re REALLY looking for in a website builder?” It offers the opportunity for users to be totally transparent about the features they need which current website builder might not yet provide.

It’s not just about guiding product updates, either. Imagine website builder already features functionality that users are looking for but isn’t actively promoting it in its marketing materials. Knowing this allows the team to adjust its messaging to reflect users’ desires.

From product to promotion, customer obsession runs deep.