Product Princess Journal / Customer Insight

Your Customer Is Not You.

Your taste can guide the product. It should not be the only thing deciding whether it deserves a chance.

In the early days of Decades Collide, Ashley and I used to have this funny little routine before markets.

I would make a new piece, hold it up proudly, and Ash would sometimes look at it and say:

“Oh my goodness. That is awful. Do not take that to the market. It will never sell.” 😂

And sure enough?

That would be the first piece I sold.

Not once.

More than once.

Eventually we started making bets before markets about which piece would sell first because his least favourite had an uncanny habit of becoming somebody else’s favourite.

It became funny, but it also taught me something important very early:

The customer gets a vote.

And sometimes their vote surprises you.

We all build through our own lens.

Every entrepreneur does this.

We look at a colour and think:

I would never choose that.

We look at a price and think:

I would never pay that.

We look at packaging and think:

That feels too simple.

We look at a feature and think:

Nobody needs that.

But without realizing it, we are often answering the wrong question.

The question is not:

Would I buy this?

The question is:

Would my customer?

Those are not always the same thing.

Your preferences are not market research.

Your own instincts matter.

You should have a point of view.

Strong brands need one.

But there is a difference between having taste and assuming everyone shares it.

Your customer may have:

A different budget.

A different home.

A different lifestyle.

A different problem.

A different sense of style.

A different reason for buying.

A different emotional connection to the product.

Something you consider unnecessary may be exactly what makes the product useful to them.

Something you think is strange may be exactly what makes them stop and look.

Something you would never hang in your house may remind them of home.

That is why customer behaviour is so valuable.

It gives you information your own opinion cannot.

Pay attention to what people actually choose.

One of the most useful things you can do in a product business is observe without trying to control the outcome.

What colour do people reach for first?

Which version do they pick up?

Which product gets questions?

What sells without much explanation?

What gets compliments but no purchases?

What sells even though you personally would have discontinued it six months ago? 😂

Those patterns matter.

And sometimes they will challenge everything you thought you knew.

Good.

That is how you learn.

Be careful with the people closest to you.

This one matters too.

Friends.

Spouses.

Kids.

Parents.

Employees.

They can all have valuable opinions.

But they are not automatically your target customer.

And because they care about you, they may also try to protect you.

They might tell you not to launch something because they do not personally understand it.

Or they may tell you everything you make is wonderful because they love you.

Neither response gives you enough information to build a business on.

You need feedback from the people the product is actually meant for.

Let the market humble you a little.

I mean that in the best possible way.

There is something very freeing about realizing:

I do not have to predict everything perfectly.

I can test.

I can watch.

I can listen.

I can learn.

And I can change my mind.

Sometimes the piece you are convinced will sell does not move.

Sometimes the one you almost leave at home sells first.

The goal is not to prove your taste was right.

The goal is to understand your customer better.

The Product Princess takeaway

Build with conviction.

Have an opinion.

Create something you are proud of.

But leave enough room for your customer to show you what they actually want.

Because your business does not grow when everyone agrees with you.

It grows when you learn to recognize what your customer values,  even when it is not what you would have chosen yourself.

And somewhere in my marriage there is still a running competition over whether Ashley can finally predict what will sell first. 😂👑

Your customer is not you. Listen accordingly.