The Other Reason That Businesses Need to Know Their Customer

Understanding a customer’s business inspires proactive solutions, Marqeta Head of Global Strategic Partnerships Anat Hoida writes in a new PYMNTS eBook, “The Listening Economy: How Customer Conversations Are Transforming Financial Services.”

The highest compliment a customer can give is: “They truly understand my business.” That kind of trust isn’t built overnight. It comes from consistently delivering value and honest communication that goes beyond the basics. It’s about showing up with purpose and proactivity, moving past transactions to become a true partner in their success.

Every interaction with your customer should deliver value. That starts with a deep understanding of their needs, challenges, goals and values — so you can clearly show how your expertise and solutions drive their success. Whether through strategic guidance or the capabilities your company offers, the goal is to truly understand how they grow and succeed.

Establishing yourself as a strategic partner builds a strong foundation of trust that is resilient and long lasting. That trust is earned by driving results — being proactive and leveraging data to show you’re not just solving problems, you’re anticipating them before they happen.

A key part of delivering value to your customers is offering proactive solutions — anticipating their needs and addressing potential issues before they become problems. This means providing tactical resources like user guides, FAQs and playbooks, and measuring success through QBRs, feedback sessions and key metrics like CSAT and NPS. True proactivity, however, goes beyond standard industry practices and shows how you’re evolving alongside your customer, adapting to their changing needs, identifying opportunities and scaling with them over time.

Many companies fall into the trap of short-term thinking, focusing only on immediate wins rather than how current decisions impact them long term. As a strategic partner, your deep understanding of their business equips you to offer guidance that looks beyond the present, providing insights and innovative recommendations that align with their future goals. By bringing clear, actionable plans to the table, you demonstrate that you’re committed to their long-term growth. This forward-thinking approach opens the door to more meaningful and transparent conversations and cements your place as a go-to resource.

Using analytics to drive your conversations allows you to be proactive and value-driven — understanding your customers’ struggles, delights and usage behaviors and how you can anticipate patterns and opportunities for improvement. Data, including analyses of annual reports, quarterly publications and published research, can uncover how clients perform within their markets and where there’s room for greater support within the partnership. These insights help ensure alignment with the client’s broader business objectives and long-term mission.

Equally important is understanding how customers are engaging with you and your offerings. Tracking engagement levels, satisfaction scores and the growth of key programs allows you to measure impact and identify new opportunities for optimization and innovation.

When you center engagement efforts on delivering high-value insights and a deep understanding of your customers’ needs and mission, you’re naturally able to foster long-term partnerships. Strong customer relationships are rooted in trust, moving beyond transactional relationships and showing up every day as a true innovation partner in every conversation.

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