KEEPING UP WITH THE CUSTOMERS

KHLOE KARDASHIAN and EMMA GREDE have stayed ahead of the curve with their size-inclusive fashion brand, Good American, by connecting deeply with their clientele.

- LIZ BRODY

The model wears a faded denim jumpsuit that hugs her curves like slalom skis. She's tugging at the zipper that goes up the front. And the photo of her appears on the Instagram page for fashion brand Good American, where it garnered more than 3,000 likes and comments along the lines of "OMG," "NEED," and "OBSESSED."

But amidst the emoji flames and heart-eyed smiley faces, a user who goes by the handle @jazziolebabe writes: "Prices r too high." That's sure to have a familiar ring to anyone with a company that sells things. "Customer obsession" is hot lingo these days, especially in retail. Everyone is scrambling to know what their shoppers want and need-and comments on social media are an obvious destination, because even negative feedback can be incredibly valuable. But finding useful insights often means dredging through the sewer of knives-out viciousness and abusive one-upmanship. And what do you do with something like "Prices r too high"? OK, sure-but last time you checked, you were in business to make a profit.

Making use of social media comments and other customer feedback is always tricky, whether you're an everyday entrepreneur or someone like Khloé Kardashian, who has more than 300 million followers on Instagram alone. She also happens to be the co-founder of Good American along with Emma Grede, a fashion-industry veteran who's becoming increasingly famous herself for her Shark Tank "guest shark" appearances. "You have to get a good sense of when people are just talking to talk," Kardashian says, "and when to go, 'You know what? I've read this enough, and where there's smoke, there's fire. Let's pay attention to this.""

More than anything else, learning to pay attention is what's helped Grede and Kardashian build their size-inclusive brand Good American into a serious force in fashion, employing over 100 people and doing more than $200 million in sales last year.