This is an introduction on how to do customer discovery, based on the customer discovery video series of Steve Blank

1. CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY
THE BASICS THAT GET YOU GOING
Based on ‘ The Customer Discovery ’ video series by Steve Blank

2. WHAT TO TEST?
First the problem, then the solution
Hypotheses about:
• Customer archetype (detailed)
• What could be a good MVP?
• What are the needs?
• Insights in the BMC blocks
 Tons of interactions, fast-paced

3. DEATH BY POWERPOINT / DEMO
Powerpoint / demo:
• You talk, customer listens
• No information gathering
• Not 100%-fit  time loss for customer
• Time-intensive

4. DEATH BY POWERPOINT / DEMO
Instead:
• You listen, customer talks
• Gather lots of information
Flexible subjects (but prepare!)
Can be short
Customer archetype insights

5. DEATH BY POWERPOINT / DEMO
Demo / MVP / project description possible:
• In customer VALIDATION phase
• On customer request
• More feedback about product
• No ‘sell’-alarm triggered

6. TYPES OF QUESTIONS
Did I understand correctly that …
Would something like X help you with Y?
What question should I have asked you?
Open-ended
Walkthroughs / descriptions
Try not to bias

7. PRODUCT –MARKET FIT
= holy grail!
Dilating pupils
Changing attitude
Breathing
Intonation
Is this for sale? Can we use this already?
WAW, that would be great and help us a lot!

8. MULTIPLE PEOPLE INTERVIEWING
Decide the roles! Prepare!
Who is going to write?
Who is going to ask questions?
What is our goal?
Don’t interrupt!
Ask for extra input
Decide on signs

9. PUBLIC INTERVIEWS
Student doing research for school  works!
50% chance of success
1 – 2 questions / 3 minutes
May last longer, but don’t overstay!
Lots of short conversations

10. CUSTOMER EMPATHY
Empathize with the customer
Understand your customer
Don’t act like a know-it-all
• more insights
• better understandings
• respect from customer  more opportunities

11. THE OTHER 85%
Why are they different?
Why are there any outliers?
Other needs? Other business opportunities?
Spend equal amount on buy-in as buy-out
15%

12. UNDERSTAND THE SALES PROCESS
Who is your user?
Your buyer?
Your saboteur?
Your recommender?
B2B often complex sales process
Impacts business viability!

13. EXISTING VS NEW MARKETS
EXISTING MARKET
Customers know what they
need
Competitors / alternatives
Comparison possible
Feature requests /
improvements
NEW MARKET
More difficult customer
discovery process
More focus on customer
archetype than product
Deep knowledge of customer
behavior needed
‘Day in the life’ and
walkthroughs

14. THE INTERVIEW
Pre-planning
Interview
Analysis
& insights

15. PRE-PLANNING
Create a list of 100 names in your customer segment
Aim for middle management
No surveys! Only face-to-face, Skype, Hangout or calls
Be ‘aggressive’

16. PRE-PLANNING
Make appointment:
Call after 5 PM (no secretary)
‘Since you know this sector the best, we would like some
feedback from you’
Ask 20 minutes, get 30
Stress their importance to you
Namedropping (if VC / incubator)
Informal location

17. PRE-PLANNING
Preparation:
Do dry-runs
Design pass / fail tests
Think about open-ended questions

18. THE ACTUAL INTERVIEW
Introduce yourself
Set the expectations right (learning, no selling)
Stress that they are important to you
Let conversation flow
Take picture of company / person

19. THE ACTUAL INTERVIEW
Keep a relaxed tone
No business card
Record the interview (ask first)
Take notes
Listen and enjoy

20. BACK IN THE BUILDING
What is the meaning of this data?
Did the hypothesis fail / succeeded?
Communicate the learnings!
• Write a blog / report
• Talk to the team (narrative)
• Be open to ideas from within
• Keep communicating

21. WHEN ARE YOU DONE?
You see a pattern
It becomes predictable
You keep hearing the same thing
Hypothesis failed? => Pivot
Hypothesis succeeded? => Move to next hypothesis
Product-market fit? => Move to customer validation

22. PIVOTING
Not everything requires a pivot
Don’t pivot too quickly
Think about it for 72 hours
Start the process all over again (but keep the learnings)