2. You’re not selling, not talking (much), But LISTENING to your
customers!
Customer Discovery:
Much more than “do you like it?
● How big is the market? Not today…eventually!
● Who’s the customer?
● What’s the product/service/need?
● Does the product solve the problem? Fill the need?
● Who else solves it? Cheaper? Better? Faster?
● How do you create demand?
● How do you deliver the product?
● Will the customer let you make money?
FIRST, Some Ground Rules
● MUST be done by Leaders, not researchers
● You’re never selling, always asking, probing
● Know the industry, issues, subject matter
● The customer steers the conversation
● No customer can answer every question
● Ask for 5 minutes(consumer) 20 (b-to-b)…
● …charm them, keep’em talking longer!
Always remember rule #1: NO SELLING ALLOWED
2. Define hypothesis “success” so you know it if you find it
● Define discovery pass/fail tests
● Results cannot just be anecdotes
● …what does success look like?
○ 4 of ten get really excited/want to buy
○ One appointment in five calls
○ 2/3 would learn about it where I’m headed
○ Half would tell >3 friends
REMEMBER: recompute the financial model based on this feedback…it changes
LOTS of things.
3. Customer Discovery:
Before your First Interview
● Know your subject…memorize your questions
● “Dress for success,” make them comfortable
● Consider/Rehearse your “Opening Line”
● ALWAYS stress “this is not a sales call”
● NEVER get caught following a script
● Be curious, dig deeper, don’t push an agenda
● Let the customer guide the conversation
3. Discovery: ROUND ONE!
● PRIMARY MISSION is “test the problem”
● Anything else is gravy…get what you can
● Avoid details on product much as you can
● …how do you solve it now
● …anyone solve it well for you
● …problems with current solutions
…but mostly: do customers care??
Who Do I Call On?
● Do NOT do Discovery with friends, colleagues
● Use existing company customers, contacts
● Get referrals from lawyers, accountants, pals
● Cold calls are a badge of honor
● Find consumers where they hang out
● “attack” people in malls, Starbucks, cafes
● Don’t worry about titles or the right person
● Can you really talk to anyone?
I Have a Meeting – Now What?
● The goal is to test all hypotheses but…
● ALWAYS get to product/market fit
○ Does the value proposition match the segment?
○ Do the customers seem to genuinely care??
● THEN move to other issues
○ What channel do they use to buy?
○ How will you get their attention? Google? Blog?
○ How much will they pay? Do they pay today?
4. What Do I Say?
● Remember you are 1st
testing the problem
● “Hi, I’ve been told you’re the smartest person in this industry. We’re building x and I’d like 10
minutes of your time.”
● Don’t try to get all the answers at once
● Every sentence is a question
● Use “Stack ranking”
● Three columns…Dummy Boxes…“Dry testing”
3 POINT INTERVIEW
● Do you have [insert specific problem]? (context)
● Tell me about the time you dealt with this problem? (story)
● What’s your ideal solution for this? (solution)
Conversation Starters
● Does the person match the Target Segment? Yes/No
● Objective 1: Problem Exploration
○ Learn if they have the Problem, and how much of a problem it really is by hearing
about their Existing Behavior/Usage
Conversation Starters: Beginner
Beginner: I’m working on an idea around…
● Have you ever…?
● Tell me about a time you’ve…
● I hear many in my customer segment have this problem of…
Conversation Starters: Advanced
● Advanced: Just start a conversation!
● I am a describe yourself as your target customer segment with your problem, then ask “do you
have any suggestions?”
● Start with questions around what they’re doing at the time of your interview
Finding the Customer’s Level of Pain
● How frequent? How much time or money is lost to the problem?
● Have you been looking for any other solutions?
● If you could wave a magic wand, what would be your ideal solution?
5. Remember: it’s just a simple chat with another person, people love to talk!
Conversation Prompts
● “Have you ever had ________ experience?”
● “Can you tell me the story about that?”
● “And then what happened?”
● “Why [or how] did you do that?”
● “What did you love [or hate] about that?”
● “If you could wave a magic wand, what would it be like?”
During the Interview:
DO
● Take notes
● Smile
● Ask open-ended questions
● Get their story
● Shut up and listen
DON’T
● Talk about your product
● Ask about future behavior
● Sell
● Ask leading questions
● Talk much
After the Interview: Debrief
DUMP (5min, solo)
● 1 idea per sticky
● “What I heard”
● “What I saw”
● “What stood out”
SORT (10min, team)
● Collect similar items
● Label groups
● Stack duplicates
● Note trends and exceptions
6. 4. Meetings Done. Then what?
● Did you meet enough customers?
● Did the answers become consistent, repetitive?
THEN: Assemble all the data, organize/rank responses
● Slam it against industry, third party resources
● Get a tighter, more concise view of the market
● …and adjust your Business Model as you go!
Next:
● Test the “solution” in a very similar way
● It’s more like “test selling”…but not hard-selling!
● …and determine if you “pivot or proceed”
After “Problem” Discovery: Google and Industry Research
● How big is the market?
● Who’s the customer? (How’s their problem/need solved today?)
● How do you create demand?
● How do you deliver the product?
● Google your product/category 8-12 hours
● CONFIRM your findings w/industry info
Research Tools will help
ANALYTICS
● Google Analytics
● KISS Metrics
● Mixpanel
● Flurry
● LocalLytics
● Stats Mix (just an api)
CONVERSION TESTING
● Unbounce
● Optimizely
UNMODERATED TESTS WITH VIDEO
● Usertesting.com
● TryMyUI
7. ● Userlytics
● WhatUsersDo
● Loop11
HEAT MAPPING
● Crazy Egg
● Click Tale
● Gaze Hawk
MESSAGE RECALL
● ClueApp
● FiveSecondTest
MICRO USABILITY
● Navflow
● Usabilia
● Clicktest
● Verify
● Intuition HQ
● UserZoom
5. Research Done. Now what?
● Did you meet enough customers?
● Did the answers become consistent, repetitive?
THEN: Assemble all the data, organize/rank responses
● Slam it against industry, third party resources
● Get a tighter, more concise view of the market
● …and adjust your Business Model as you go!
Next:
● Test the “solution” in a very similar way
● It’s more like “test selling”…but not hard-selling!
● …and determine if you “pivot or proceed”
Testing the Solution: Dreaded Questions
● Will people use it?
● Why won’t people use it?
● What’s wrong with this?
● How could I make this better?
● How can I improve conversion?
8. ● Are we making progress?
● Do people like this?
● Did we do the right thing?
● Why is there dropoff?
Design Test
We believe that people like ___(customer type)_____ have a need for (or problems doing)
____(need/action/behavior)___.
We will know we have succeeded when ____(quantitative/measurable outcome)___, or
_____(qualitative/observable outcome)__, which will contribute to ______(KPI)____.
Always remember rule #1: NO SELLING ALLOWED
FIND the EARLYVANGELISTS
“FOAMING AT THE MOUTH”
● Have the problem
● Know they have the problem
● Searched for solution
● Hacked a solution
● Paid for a solution