While there have been a lot of business articles written on strategy, when you are trying to grow a business, we believe it is important to keep out of the jargon and keep it simple. Software and technology companies often have a knack for things that are technical. When we start with cool software, it is easy to focus on the software and forget the most important questions that drive success.

The 5 Key Questions to a Growth Strategy

1. What problem are you really solving?

While this question sounds simple, without it, you are missing the first building block – the “Why” behind your offering. With this question, it is critical you think of it from your customer’s point of view. Getting clear on who your product helps and what the impact is for your customer sets the foundation for a “market focused” strategy. The main building blocks in this type of strategy start with listening to the market. Understanding the market implies you have talked to customers, understand their pain points, and know how your solution solves their problem. In order to have growth, the impact for your customers has to be big enough for them to see value beyond its costs and the potential risk of implementing the solution in their business.

2. How will you get their attention?

With all the noise out in the market, anyone that is in business knows that getting the right person’s attention is not a simple as it sounds. There are lots of different ways to get attention, but the first place to start is with getting clear on “Who” you are trying to reach. In reality, depending on your solution and how complex it is, it may involve more than one person. Getting attention means identifying the person that will feel the impact of the problem the strongest. One of the ways to truly stand out, to be unique, is to get laser focused in on not only the Who, but having your potential impact be clear enough so that you can talk with that person or persona in their language, and in terms that matter to their business. This will help them understand the value you believe you can bring.

3. How will you gain their trust?

You have likely heard, in order for someone to buy from you, they have to like and trust you. Both being liked and being trusted are dealing with the emotional side of us. While having the ability to measure the impact of what you do is key to showing value, emotion is about relationship. To build a relationship, it takes interaction and engagement. This is where the methods of how you engage your ideal customer matter. Depending on your business and solution, this can take and often should take multiple forms that span your sales and marketing efforts.

4. Are you delivering on the value you promise?

As we mentioned earlier, a growth strategy has to be built on delivering value. This is where the “What” of your solutions takes the stage. Do you have a clear way of explaining what your solution will look like when it is successfully implemented? Are there specific ways your customer can measure its impact? This is also where “How” you do things with your customers and “When” you do them brings the value to life. What are the specific ways that your customer can expect you will act or perform?

5. How will you reinforce the relationship going forward?

You now have the solution in place and the customer is reaping the value of your solution. That is not the end of the story, rather the beginning of your growth strategy. By continuing to engage with your customer, measuring the results they have achieved, and listening to other issues they have, you get the insight as to how you can help them in the future. Doing this builds relationship, furthers trust, and sets you up as a trusted advisor to your customer, not just a piece of software or technology.