You can earn their trust by showing that you really know your stuff or understand their needs. Or offer them something useful; connect with them in a new way so they feel assured that they’re making the right choice with your company. You tell them a story they can connect with.

A good story is an act of empathy. It recognizes the needs of its audience. And it blends facts and feelings so the customer gets enough of both. First you need enough insights and concrete information that your argument doesn’t feel too floaty and insubstantial. It doesn’t have to be definitive data, but there has to be enough to feel meaty, to convince people that you’re anchored in real facts. But you can overdo it—if your story is only informational, then

it’s entirely possible that people will agree with you but decide it’s not compelling enough to act on just yet. Maybe next month. Maybe next year.

So you have to appeal to their emotions—connect with something they care about. Their worries, their fears. Or show them a compelling vision of the future: give a human example. Walk through how a real person will experience this product—their day, their family, their work, the change they’ll experience. Just don’t lean so far into the emotional connection that

what you’re arguing for feels novel, but not necessary.

But it's important to stay tethered to reality. Nothing strengthens that connection more than an ongoing dialogue with your customers. Don't outsource this to the marketing department. Don't consume your customers' frustration in sanitized slides delivered by direct reports with little incentive to deliver bad news. Pick up the phone, and confront the truth.

Our point here is to not run your business by the comment box. It may feel good, at least at first, but here's the catch: customers typically don't understand the implications of their requests. It's your obligation — to them and to you — to put their demands in context, to evaluate the trade-offs of expanding your offering.

When these kinds of questions start to haunt you, it's typically a good sign. It signals a pivot from the kind of customization we just described to some level of standardization. The trigger for this switch is usually the realization that it's not sustainable to keep delivering one-of-a-kind, made-to-order service. Your margins can't take it anymore. Moreover, the complexity of maintaining a wide range of distinct offerings makes the business difficult to scale operationally.

Our point here is to not run your business by the comment box. It may feel good, at least at first, but here's the catch: customers typically don't understand the implications of their requests. It's your obligation — to them and to you — to put their demands in context, to evaluate the trade-offs of expanding your offering.