“Successful companies cater to their customers and give them what they want.” You have heard it time and again, and you will hear it countless times more as long as you are offering a product or service. Being a top Phoenix web design company, we are here you tell you a secret.

This advice however rests on the mistaken assumption that people know what they want and what they want is a fixed factor.

In reality, what people want is dramatically malleable, contingent and divergent. There is a growing need to look past what customers say they want and figure out what they really want. What your customers may want in the short term might not be what’s best for them in the long term.

Giving customers what they want often simply means we keep selling what and how we have so far. This is the objection with which many new and potentially very worthwhile ideas for products and services are routinely cast aside by companies.

So, why do we continue to do it? The idea of giving customers what they want feels like the logical thing to do for several reasons.

First, it’s always tempting to stick with what’s safe. The currently successful model got you your first sales and helped you scale up. So, why take the risk and dive into the unknown? This is what stops a number of entrepreneurs from taking the plunge.

Second, might also run the risk of coming across as arrogant and snobbish for advocating that businesses know and understand about customer’s wants more than the customers themselves. This might not sit well with the customers.

Finally, insisting that you have the answer to the unexplored wishes and desires of consumers can put you in a vulnerable position both within your own organization and the industry.

This results in all the possible avenues of pleasure and satisfaction going unexplored and opportunities of growth moving elsewhere. The mistake many businesses make here is running only after sales target rather than tapping into the great resources of our own creative ideas. The whole basis of our excitement, as people, can change in dramatic ways and businesses need to realize that potential.

The idea that business know what people want is based on geographically bounded sample size and a very small time frame. But you can find remarkably different pictures presenting if you widen your angle of observation.

The truth is, however misguided our attempts may be, every product and service is designed to address the needs of its potential users. A huge problem now is that making changes can be met with extreme hostility.

So how do you go about it?

You do it with confidence. If you have a good idea which does not conform to the norms of the industry, it’s extremely important to be unapologetic about it. Demonstrating confidence is a powerful psychological tool, if you carry it off with you, your customers will fit in too.

The idea that companies should simply give people what they want isn’t as powerful a move as it sounds. Change can be flexible, surprising and fast moving. As entrepreneurs, it is our job to know what our customers want before even they know they want it.