One thing I used to do a lot were customer focus groups.  It was an eye-opening opportunity to see what my customers were thinking.

My name is Michael Barbarita with the know your numbers minute.

I actually got 20 customers or potential customers in a room on a quarterly basis and paid them $50 each for a one-hour focus group.  This can be done even better today with Zoom. The key was, the customer didn’t know that it was my company performing the focus group. That way we got to hear all the dirt about us. We found out what they liked and didn’t like…about us, about our competitors, about our advertising, about our prices, about our selection, about our service, about the industry.

The information was invaluable.

And remember, the most successful business owners know their numbers!