{"id":29652,"date":"2012-08-16T09:00:13","date_gmt":"2012-08-16T13:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mixergy.com\/?p=29652"},"modified":"2016-06-26T10:13:29","modified_gmt":"2016-06-26T17:13:29","slug":"course-cheat-sheet-interview-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixergy.com\/course-cheat-sheet-interview-customers\/","title":{"rendered":"Want Customers? Do This"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine proudly launching your new product, then feeling like a fool because no one buys it.<\/p>\n

Jason Evanish worked for a company that built an app store for Twitter. If you haven’t shopped at a Twitter app store recently, you might understand why it never got traction.<\/p>\n

As Jason says in hindsight: “How often do you have a problem where you need a Twitter app? There\u2019s not really a whole lot of pain you’re solving.”<\/p>\n

Now the product manager at KISSmetrics<\/a>, Jason uses a customer development system to make sure that doesn’t happen again.<\/p>\n

“You better make sure that one thing you spend all this time frantically building is what people want,” he says.<\/p>\n

In his Mixergy course<\/a>, he shows you how he does it. Here are three tactics you\u2019ll learn in the course.<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t Jump to Conclusions<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jason worked for a company that built an “app store for Twitter”. As it turns out, that’s not a problem that anybody cared about. Bummer.<\/p>\n

So how do you find out what somebody’s top three problems are?<\/p>\n

Ask What They Care About<\/h3>\n

Just ask them!<\/p>\n

But make sure you’re not “leading the witness” by asking them if they care about the specific problem you’re thinking of solving. Often, they’ll just agree with you.<\/p>\n

Instead, ask open-ended questions. Let them respond freely about their most pressing problems.<\/p>\n

Ask “What are your top three problems that you’re facing with X?” When one of their top three problems is the one you\u2019re trying to solve, it\u2019s a strong sign that you’re solving a problem that people value.<\/p>\n

2. Are They Jumping On a Couch?<\/h2>\n

\"\"Every customer has problems they want you to solve.<\/p>\n

But you can’t solve a problem because your favorite customer asked you to. Or because it sounds exciting.<\/p>\n

So how do you know what problem to solve?<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Solve Every Problem<\/h3>\n

Start by taking notes. Jason takes a lot of notes.<\/p>\n

Then, he reviews his notes to find patterns. He looks for common pain points that a lot of customers want to solve.<\/p>\n

He also recalls how excited they are to solve the problem. Jason says he looks for people “that are ready to jump through the screen and say When can I get my hands on this?”<\/p>\n

Use your interview notes to find problems that lots of people have. But don’t do anything until you’re sure they’re really jumping-on-a-couch excited.<\/p>\n

3. Test The Waters First<\/h2>\n

\"\"Customers can verify that you’re working on an important problem. But you don’t make money by identifying problems.<\/p>\n

You make money by creating solutions.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, customers stink at visualizing your solution without trying it for themselves. At the same time, you don’t want to release your solution to the whole world without some real-world feedback.<\/p>\n

Maybe it doesn\u2019t have the right features. Maybe it\u2019s too difficult to use. Maybe they really hate your icons.<\/p>\n

Use a “Limited Release” to Get Real Feedback<\/h3>\n

Jason suggests creating limited release for the people most desperate for your solution. Ask them to help you improve it before your public launch.<\/p>\n

Give exclusive, early access to a handful of people who are excited about your product. Jason sends them an email saying, “Hey. I just gave you exclusive access to a new feature we haven’t fully rolled out yet. I’d love your feedback. I think it will solve a lot of your problems.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine proudly launching your new product, then feeling like a fool because no one buys it.<\/p>\n

Jason Evanish worked for a company that built an app store for Twitter. If you haven’t shopped at a Twitter app store recently, you might understand why it never got traction..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2293,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[293,295,245],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cheat-sheet","category-course-cheat-sheet","category-courses"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWant Customers? Do This - Business Podcast for Startups<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Imagine proudly launching your new product, then feeling like a fool because no one buys it. Jason Evanish worked for a company that built an app store for Twitter. 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