Business

Your Best Customers Are Already Out There. Here’s Why You Keep Missing Them.

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Published 10/28/2026 11:30:00 AM

You’re Catching Plenty of Customers. Why Aren’t They Staying?

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Key Takeaways

Customer acquisition isn’t a volume problem; it’s a targeting problem, and most businesses are solving the wrong one.
Your first-time buyer, repeat buyer and best customer are three different people, so stop marketing to them as one.
Study your best customers, not your most recent ones. That pattern is the start of a real targeting model.

When I started VeraData in 2007, I thought I understood customer acquisition. I had studied the models, understood the data, and believed that if you built something genuinely useful, the right people would find it.

I was wrong about how they’d find it.

Our first client was a nonprofit organization trying to grow its donor base. They were doing what almost every organization does when they want more customers, donors, members, whatever the right word is for their business: they were talking to everyone. Broad outreach, general messaging, high volume. They figured if they cast a wide enough net, they’d catch enough of the right people.

They were catching plenty of people. Almost none of them stayed.

What I learned from that first engagement, and from the roughly 900 organizations we’ve worked with since, is that the problem was never the product. The problem was that they had no real picture of who their best customer actually was. Not a vague sense of a demographic. A precise, data-backed understanding of the specific individual most likely to engage, come back and bring others with them.

That gap costs businesses far more than they realize.

Acquisition is a targeting problem

Most entrepreneurs I talk to think of customer acquisition as a volume problem. Get in front of more people, close a higher percentage and the math works out. The data show that acquisition is a targeting problem. The difference between a good prospecting model and a broad one is not a few percentage points of conversion rate. It is, in many cases, the difference between a business that compounds and one that churns.

Here’s what I mean. When we model a client’s customer file, we are not asking who bought once. We are asking which specific individuals, given everything we know about their behavior, their demographics and their history, are statistically most likely to buy, buy again and eventually become high-value long-term customers. Those three outcomes require three different models because the signals that predict each one are different.

Your first-time buyer is not the same person as your repeat buyer. Your repeat buyer is not the same as your highest-value customer. Treating them as a single target audience is one of the most expensive mistakes a growing company can make, and it is nearly universal.

What changed things for our clients was treating data not as a reporting tool but as a prospecting tool. Instead of analyzing who had already bought and working backwards, we started building models that identified who was most likely to buy before they ever raised their hand. Predictive, not reactive.

Start with your best customers, not your most recent ones

The practical version of this for most entrepreneurs is simpler than it sounds. Start by looking hard at your best existing customers. Not your most recent ones. Your best ones: the people who came back, spent more time and sent others your way. What do they have in common? Not just demographics. Behavior. Timing. How they first found you. What they engaged with before they bought. That pattern, even at a small scale, is the beginning of a real targeting model.

Most businesses have more signal than they think. They just have not organized it in a way that lets them act on it.

The other mistake I see consistently is what I’d call premature broad reach. There is pressure, especially early on, to grow fast and reach as many potential customers as possible. The problem is that undifferentiated outreach burns acquisition budget on people who were never going to stay. You get the vanity metric of volume and you miss the compounding effect of retention.

The organizations that outperform over time are not the ones with the biggest outreach. They are the ones who have gotten very good at knowing exactly who they are looking for before they spend a dollar trying to find them.

This is not a problem that only large companies with data science teams can solve. I have worked with organizations of every size, and the ones that grow consistently share one trait: they have decided to treat customer knowledge as a competitive asset rather than a byproduct of sales activity. They use what they already know to sharpen where they look next.

That compounding effect is real. Every campaign, every transaction, and every customer interaction adds a signal that makes the next decision sharper. The businesses that start building that engine early look very different three years from now than the ones that are still casting wide nets and hoping.

It took me a long time to understand that finding the right customers is not a creative problem. It is a math problem. And like most math problems, once you have the right equation, the answer starts to repeat.

The good news is that the data to build that equation is usually closer than you think. You just have to decide to use it.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Key Takeaways

Mindset varies by channel. The same buyer behaves differently depending on where you reach them. Customer interviews can reveal these mindset differences.
Use interviews to improve the message, not just the channel. Interviews reveal how buyers describe their problems and which claims they trust or dismiss, which makes for better messaging.
Customer acquisition doesn’t end when somebody visits your website. Interviews should uncover what buyers need to see, learn or believe before taking the next step.

Marketers spend a lot of time deciding where to find customers. Should we invest more in Google Ads? Build our presence on LinkedIn? Publish SEO content? Participate in Reddit communities? Sponsor newsletters? Create an Amazon book?

Those are important questions. But there is another question that can have an even bigger impact on your customer acquisition strategy: What is going through your buyer’s mind when they use each of those channels?

The same person can behave very differently depending on where you encounter them.

Someone searching Google for “best payroll software for small businesses” is in a different mindset from someone scrolling LinkedIn between meetings. Someone asking for recommendations in a Reddit community may have different expectations than someone reading reviews on Amazon.

Yet companies often take one value proposition and distribute versions of it across every channel. Customer interviews can help you do something better.

Instead of using interviews only to create buyer personas or collect quotes, you can use them to understand how customers discover, research and evaluate solutions across different environments. Those insights can then improve everything from channel selection and ad creative to landing pages, nurture sequences and conversion playbooks.

Understand the mindset behind each channel

Different channels tend to appear at different moments in the buying process. Customer interviews can help you understand those moments.

Ask customers who discovered you through paid or organic search what problem they were actively trying to solve. Search often reflects existing intent, so your messaging may need to answer a relatively specific question quickly.

If customers found you through social media, ask why they stopped scrolling. What made the topic relevant? What kinds of posts normally get their attention? What would they have ignored?

The buyer may not have been actively shopping at all. Your job on social may therefore be less about explaining your product and more about helping the buyer recognize a problem.

Communities such as Reddit can produce another type of insight. Ask customers whether they use Reddit, Slack groups, professional communities or forums when researching products. Find out what they ask there and, importantly, why they trust those environments.

You may hear something like, “I wanted to know what people actually use rather than what vendors say they use.” That should influence your marketing.

A polished company message that performs well on your website might perform badly on Reddit. In a community built around peer advice, detailed examples, transparent tradeoffs and customer evidence may be far more persuasive than polished promotional copy.

By way of another example, even Amazon can tell you something about acquisition. For some buyers, books are research tools. An executive might search Amazon for books about product-led growth, cybersecurity, leadership or sales before they ever search for software.

If your interviews reveal that your target buyers regularly consume books to solve problems, publishing a useful book could become an acquisition channel in its own right.

The goal is to understand where your customers already go when they experience the problems you solve.

Use interviews to improve the message, not just the channel

Knowing where customers spend time is only the beginning. Interviews can also tell you what to say once you reach them.

Pay close attention to the words customers use to describe the original problem. A marketing team might call something “revenue intelligence.” A customer might say, “We didn’t know why deals kept getting stuck.” The second phrase may make better ad copy. You can also ask what originally got the customer’s attention.

Show interviewees examples of headlines, ads or messages. Ask which ones they would click and which they would ignore. Don’t simply ask whether they “like” an advertisement. Ask them to explain their reaction.

Maybe a buyer immediately dismisses claims such as “increase revenue by 30%” because they sound unrealistic. Another might respond strongly to an ad showing a familiar problem because it signals that the company understands their situation.

Those patterns can influence your creative strategy across channels.

Follow the buyer beyond the click

Customer acquisition doesn’t end when somebody visits your website. You also need to understand what buyers need to see, learn or believe before taking the next step.

Interview customers about what happened after they clicked an ad, found an article or heard about your company.

What did they look for on the website? What questions did they still have? What nearly stopped them from requesting a demo or starting a trial? Who else became involved? What information did they send to colleagues? What gave them enough confidence to continue?

Imagine interviews reveal that buyers coming from paid search usually compare three vendors immediately after clicking an ad. Your landing page might need a comparison section, customer evidence and clear differentiation much earlier.

Meanwhile, someone discovering you through LinkedIn may know almost nothing about the category. Sending that buyer directly to a demo request could be premature. A guide, case study, webinar or email sequence might work better.

That is how customer research starts shaping your conversion playbook, not merely your acquisition message. Different channels can require different journeys.

Turn interviews into channel-specific acquisition playbooks

After several interviews, organize what you hear by acquisition source.

For each important channel, map the customer’s typical situation when they encounter you, what they are trying to accomplish, the questions they have, the language they use, what earns their attention, what creates skepticism and what they need before moving forward.

Then build the acquisition experience around those insights.

Your Google campaign might lead with a specific problem and move quickly into product proof.
Your LinkedIn strategy might focus on helping buyers recognize the problem before introducing your solution.
Your Reddit strategy might emphasize useful answers, customer experiences and transparent recommendations.
Your email sequence might address the questions customers consistently ask between initial interest and purchase.
Your sales team might receive a different conversation framework depending on what brought the prospect into the funnel.

Instead of one generic acquisition machine, you develop several connected playbooks built around real buyer behavior.

Stop guessing what buyers will respond to

There will always be experimentation in marketing. You will still test headlines, channels, offers, creative and conversion paths. The difference is what happens before the test.

Without customer understanding, experimentation can become a sequence of guesses: try another ad, publish another article, rewrite the homepage or add another nurture sequence.

Customer interviews give those experiments a stronger starting point. They help you understand where buyers go, what they are trying to accomplish when they get there, what catches their attention and what they need before taking the next step.

The result is a better customer acquisition strategy — one built around how your customers actually buy.

Effective product pages help online shoppers decide whether an item fits their needs and what buying it involves. A beautiful photograph gets attention. Product details such as dimensions, available sizes, delivery details, and a clear price help turn that attention into a purchase.

Even established retailers miss these basics. In its benchmark of leading U.S. and European retailers, updated in March 2026, Baymard Institute rated 52% of desktop sites and 62% of mobile sites “mediocre or worse” for product-page usability¹.

Product-page changes can affect revenue, too. In a 27-day test for Life Pro Fitness, agency Media Contour made product images, key details, and buying buttons visible without needing to scroll. Testing vendor Wingify reported that the revised page generated $0.67 more revenue per visitor than the original².

If you are building a new store, follow the five tips below as you create your product pages. Have those pages ready before running ads that send shoppers to them.

If you already have an online store, choose one product page to improve. Reference these steps to check whether it answers shoppers’ questions and lets them add the right item to their cart.

1. Answer shoppers’ questions in the product description

Identify the main question a shopper needs answered before buying. Look for questions customers ask repeatedly or misunderstandings behind returns. For a new product, start with fit, compatibility, or what is included. Confirm the answer against your product specifications, then put it near the start of the description.

For example, consider a pet-supply retailer selling a dog harness. Someone choosing their first harness needs measurements and adjustment details to judge the fit. Someone replacing a harness they already own needs to recognize the same model and size. The page should make both tasks straightforward.

Also, use consistent labels and units across similar products to make comparisons easier. Include limitations, such as incompatible models or items sold separately, so shoppers can rule out an unsuitable purchase.

In e-commerce platform BigCommerce, for instance, online sellers can use the product description and custom fields—additional facts such as material or compatibility—to present these details. Preview the product page to check that shoppers can find the information they need.

Then, use those same facts to help shoppers recognize the item in search results. In BigCommerce’s page title field, use the product name and a relevant detail, such as its model or material. Avoid repeating keywords or giving every product the same title.

2. Give every product image a question to answer

Plan your gallery around what someone needs to inspect. Show the whole product, a useful detail, and the product in use. For example, a lighting retailer could photograph a lamp beside a chair to show its scale and how it lights a reading space. A close-up of the switch shows how someone would operate it. Together, these images help shoppers picture using the lamp at home. Keep written dimensions available as well.

The same Baymard overview describes how shoppers use images to judge size and can struggle when photographs lack a familiar reference.

If you sell a bundle, make clear which pictured items are included. For products that need assembly or demonstration, you might even consider creating a short video. Add alt text: a short description of the useful information in an image. Screen-reader software can read that description aloud or present it in braille. Keep essential instructions available as text as well.

BigCommerce supports product images, images for variants such as different colors, and YouTube-hosted product videos. Check that your gallery presents the right item as shoppers change their selection.

3. Make choices, prices, and recurring charges clear

Keep size, color, quantity, and purchase options close to the buying button. Label them plainly, show the current selection, and make unavailable choices recognizable. If the size options fit on the screen, show them as labeled buttons, such as S, M, and L. This lets shoppers see which sizes are available without opening a menu, as the Baymard overview explains.

Place helpful links beside the choice it explains. For the dog harness, for example, consider putting a measurement guide beside the size selector so shoppers can check the fit before choosing. Keep it visible or provide a clearly labeled link that works by touch and keyboard.

In BigCommerce, online sellers can configure choices such as size and color through product variants and options. Then check that the displayed price and availability match the shopper’s selection. For multipacks, show both the pack total and the unit price. Make the full pack price easy to find so shoppers know what they will be charged.

If you offer subscriptions, let shoppers explicitly choose between a one-time purchase and a recurring order. Put the recurring charge, delivery frequency, and change or cancellation terms beside that choice so shoppers can compare the commitments before selecting. Confirm that these terms match how your subscription service works. Select a subscription yourself and verify that checkout shows the plan, price, and frequency you chose.

4. Make sure delivery, returns, and reviews are easy to find

A shopper who needs an item by a particular date wants to know whether it will arrive in time. Show a delivery estimate for their destination. Put a short explanation of shipping and returns near add to cart, with links to the full policies.

Show shipping fees or explain how they will be calculated. Clearly describe return windows, fees, and exclusions that matter for the item. If pickup is offered, distinguish stock at the selected location from stock elsewhere. Avoid presenting an estimate as a confirmed promise.

Also consider making reassurances that are specific to the purchase. Using the dog harness as an example again, you’d want to explain whether a shopper can exchange it if the fit is wrong and which conditions apply. That answers the practical concerns that a badge saying “Shop with Confidence” leaves unresolved. Use only promises your business can honor.

Customer reviews provide another way to assess the product. Show the review rating, text, reviewer’s display name, and date on the relevant product page. If reviews come from another service, name that service. These details help shoppers understand whose experience they are reading and how recent it is.

5. Test the path from product page to cart

Shoppers need to know that the page has registered their choices and whether adding an item succeeded. Open your chosen product page on your phone. If a required option starts unselected, try adding the item before choosing it. The page should tell you what to select or explain why “Add to cart” is unavailable.

If the product has options, choose them, then change one selection. Check that the price, availability, and any option-specific images match. Add the item. While the request is processing, the page should make that clear. Once it succeeds, a confirmation or the cart itself should show what was added. If an error occurs, it should explain how to continue without losing other selections.

From there, make sure to check the item’s quantity, options, and price in the cart. If you chose a size or color, return to the product page and check whether it still shows that selection. These checks help catch a wrong selection or an uncertain result before a shopper encounters it.

Shoppers who cannot use a mouse need to select options and add products using a keyboard. To check that they can, repeat the steps above on a computer without the mouse. Use Tab to move forward between controls and Shift+Tab to move back. A visible outline or other marker should show which control you are about to use. Press Enter to activate links and Enter or Space for buttons. In a drop-down list, such as a size selector, use the arrow keys to move through the options.

Shoppers who need larger text must still be able to read product details and reach Add to cart. Use the browser’s Zoom control to enlarge the page to 200% and try the same steps again. Check for overlapping text or controls that disappear. Across all these checks, record anything that prevents choosing the product, adding it, or correcting a mistake.

Keep improving one page at a time

Clear facts and images help shoppers judge the product; clear choices, terms, and working controls help them act on that decision. Choose one issue from your review to fix first. Give priority to a problem that prevents adding the correct item to the cart. If shoppers can add the correct item, address an unanswered question that could lead someone to buy the wrong product.

Record what you changed and when. If you have sales reports, compare purchases and revenue for the product over equal periods before and after the change. Note any promotions or changes in visitor numbers that could also explain the results. Customer questions, order corrections, and return reasons can help you check whether the same misunderstanding persists.

For more examples, explore BigCommerce’s product-page guide, then apply the same review to the next product page.

¹^{Product Page UX 2026: 10 Pitfalls and Best Practices}^{(Baymard Institute)
2}^{Media Contour uses split URL testing to improve the revenue from product pages}^(Wingify)