Five questions for: Lindsay Willott, CEO of Customer Thermometer

What does your business do?

Customer Thermometer's "one-click" email feedback tool helps businesses get accurate feedback from their customers in seconds. You've probably filled one of these in without realising it: it normally appears at the bottom of the email and asks how you feel about the service you have just received (such as in a receipt for an order, or confirmation from a helpdesk).

You select gold (for great), down to green, yellow or red.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

What's been your greatest achievement?

A key milestone for us was reaching 1,000 "true fans". The idea comes from a famous 2008 blog post by Kevin Kelly (the founding editor of Wired). A true fan is someone who is likely to buy from you no matter what you produce next. They will not only recommend you,but rave about you.

We targeted 1,000 true fans when we only had around 200. This has been critical to our growth and culture.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Our very first release was the first 1-click survey on the market.

It was really good, and worth the price tag. We put a lot of effort into the launch and nothing happened. The targets we had set suddenly seemed meaningless, and fear set in that we wouldn't succeed.

What are your plans for hitting your targets?

Instead of obsessing about large annual growth, we embrace "micro-targets" that focus on small wins and short time periods, rather than just revenue. This has helped us hit the right numbers without being distracted by them.

What advice would you give entrepreneurs?

There's a strange alchemy between what customers want and what you give them. There is science in it, but there has to be magic too. Be curious, listen hard and care deeply.