By DMZ, Tech Incubator
April 17, 2024
Rewiring co-creation: Learn how to become customer-obsessed
Top tips for how companies can become customer-obsessed and build better products
We had the pleasure of chatting with Pat Sathiensamrit, the Founder of Lightster, to learn more about the startup, its global mentality and carefully crafted process that helps companies become customer-obsessed.
Keep reading to learn more about Lightster, and Pat’s top tips for how companies can become customer-obsessed and build better products.
Can you tell us about Lightster and its mission?
Empowering companies to create better products for their target users, Lightster (Fall ’23) is a platform that connects tech companies with their intended customers to help guide their product development in 60 seconds. These 60 seconds represent our impressive ‘time to insight’ capability, eliminating the need for weeks of waiting to obtain actionable feedback. Our platform empowers companies to swiftly gather essential information, enabling them to make informed decisions and optimize their products quickly.
We aim to increase collaboration between companies and users while benefiting both parties. The benefits are twofold. Customers who sign up can share their insights while earning rewards, and companies create a direct channel of communication with their target audience to refine their products through surveys, chat messages and live conversations.
Despite being an early-stage startup, you’ve already set up shop with multiple partners worldwide. How has your experience been working across global markets?
By exploring new markets worldwide, Lightster has opened up untapped customer segments that allow us to unlock new avenues for growth. This has been made possible by securing strategic partnerships with organizations in countries like Brazil, Jamaica and Switzerland. Our partners have opened doors for us by providing us with connections, market exposure, and, most importantly, insights on the problems that tech companies globally face in their mission to become customer-obsessed.
Given we work with startups and partners across the globe, we’ve found timezone differences can be both a benefit and a challenge. With our co-founder working remotely from Asia, we understand that finding meeting times that work for all parties can be difficult, but operating in different time zones can often give us additional time to complete deliverables.
When one office closes, another one opens up, which allows work to be completed around the clock globally. With teams located across different time zones, we have the advantage of having our offices open around the clock. This enables us to promptly address any issues that may arise when our customers are asleep, ensuring efficient resolution and minimizing any potential delays. By having all hands on deck, we’ve made things happen even faster than before.
For any founder who’s hesitant to open up to new markets, I’d encourage them to go for it. We’ve expanded our reach significantly by working with trusted global partners. Startups might be pleasantly surprised to discover how many companies are eager to tap into the North American market, actively seeking partnerships in the region to unlock new opportunities and expand their reach.
How exactly do you work with your clients? What is your solution offering them?
Lightster empowers companies to connect with their users, by allowing them to create instant communities of their target users based on who is available to provide input on their product while it’s being built. Companies connect directly with their target audiences to involve them in the co-creation process of products that were built for them.
Our clients get to connect with their users directly, providing them with an opportunity to voice their genuine opinions. We’re proud to enable companies like Nobul, Ecowiser, Between.co, Referral Candy, and incubators that support startups like DMZ to become customer-obsessed and build their best products yet on Lightster.
Lightster has grown its user base to almost 7,000+ users. What does this reach mean for your companies, and what’s next?
A more extensive user base translates to better success for our clients as they can connect to a broader set of target audiences faster. Companies that join Lightster instantly match with more users who fit their criteria and target audience.
Companies on Lightster will soon have more ways to connect with their users through a pre-launch product ‘feed’ where they can invite their users and potential users to join and co-create the product as it’s being built.
Could you share your top 3 tips for how companies can better serve their customers?
- Involve them in the co-creation process. As soon as your idea sparks, founders should seek user input. Stats have shown that early involvement increases customer loyalty.
- When looking for customer feedback, ask open-ended questions and focus on past behaviours and events instead of asking “what if” questions. This approach produces richer responses allowing you to pinpoint and improve on real, proven challenges, rather than hypothetical scenarios.
- Utilize the vast array of potential users on Lightster by experimenting with different types of representative behaviours and characteristics. You might be surprised; what you discover could lead to your next big idea.
Head over to Lightster’s website to learn more about how they are creating customer-obsessed companies. Want to learn more about how you can help Lightster on its journey? Reach out to their team at welcome@lightster.co.
