How you can use customer research to build your SaaS product.

1. Using Customer Development to Build
Your SaaS Product
Arpit Rai
Principal Product Manager @ ThoughtSpot | ex VP Products, WebEngage

2. About Me
● Career
○ Currently Principal Product Manager at ThoughtSpot
○ Previously VP Products at WebEngage, 1st product hire at BrowserStack
○ Experience in SaaS only. No B2C experience
○ SaaS experience at different stages
■ WebEngage (3-3-2-2-2)
■ BrowserStack (3-3-2-2-2)
■ ThoughtSpot ($100M+ ARR)
● Blog
○ Thoughts on product and growth in SaaS: https://www.medium.com/@arpitrai

3. Agenda
1. The WebEngage story
2. What is customer development & Why do you need it?
3. When do you do customer development?
4. How do you do customer development?
5. Summary

4. The WebEngage story

5. The Product
2015-2016: Basic marketing automation product for B2C companies
Users
Email
Push Notifications
SMS
In-app Messages

6. The Problem
Tons of competitors in the marketing automation space
How do you differentiate?

7. Customer development
Intelligent segments
Engage users through unique segments
Engage users through more detailed segments
Reach users smartly

8. Output of customer development
Added to wishlist
Purchased in next
30 days?
Do nothing
Yes
No
Send email
User reachable on
email?
Yes
No
User reachable on
mobile?

9. Validation from customers
We were able to fit majority of their use cases
Customers came back with more use cases we had not thought of!

10. WebEngage’s Biggest USP from 2016-18: Journey Designer

11. What is customer
development?

12. What customer development is not
❌ It’s not asking customers what they want and building it
❌ It’s not running surveys

13. What customer development is
✅ Validate your hypothesis so you figure out the right problem to solve
✅ Figure out the right problems to solve

14. Why do you need to do customer development?
Build something that has a real chance of success
Solutions are easy. Figuring out the right problem to solve is not. Ideas are NOT
overrated!
Eg. BrowserStack: 0 to <$XX M in 5 years. First 2 weeks only research & talking to people. They didn’t realize it but they were doing customer
development
In SaaS, you’re not always the user of your product as compared to B2C
Eg. WebEngage: I worked on a SaaS product for B2C companies. I have never worked in a B2C company!

15. Why do you need to do customer development?
Quantitative analysis only indicates where the problem exists. Doesn’t answer
why the problem exists
Use qualitative analysis / customer development to figure out your solution

16. When do you do customer
development?

17. When do you do customer development
Idea Stage: What should you even build?
Post-PMF & Beyond: What are the next set of features you should build?

18. When do you do customer development
Prioritize
Problems
Design Solution Build Solution Test Launch
Research &
Define Problems
Do customer development!

19. How do you do customer
development?

20. How do you do customer development
Step 1: Start with a hypothesis you’re trying to validate / Topic on which you want more information
Step 2: Identify your users. Target segments (region, industry etc.), Existing + Others (LinkedIn, Twitter…)
Step 3: Set up your meeting. Meet them in person. Speak to them on the phone. No surveys. No emails.
Step 4: Take notes in meeting, summarize, devise plan of action

21. Questions you can ask
1. About the company (what it does, industry, number of employees)
2. About the person (role, responsibilities at work etc.)
3. What is the problem they’re facing (or understand in detail the problem you’re trying to solve if you
already have an idea / know a problem)
4. The last time they faced the problem(s) and how often do they face it?
5. How does this problem impact their business or how much time and money does this problem cost
their company?
6. How are they currently solving the problem?
7. Problems with their current solution

22. Summary

23. Summary
● Solutions are easy. Figuring out the right problem to solve is not.
● You need customer development whether you’re starting up or in the growth
stage or you have an established product
● Keep your biases aside when you do customer development

24. Questions?
Twitter: @arpitrai | Medium: www.medium.com/@arpitrai | Email: arpitrai@gmail.com