Chapter 2 Continued…

Goal: 5–10 customer meetings

Use this framework to get a deep understanding of your customer’s pain, the language they use to describe their business, and hopefully get some traction.

Talking to customers never really stops! The more you talk to customers, the better your product and marketing strategies will get.

In the beginning, try to build relationships with your early customers. They’ll respect that you’re looking to really understand their pain points. This will make sales a lot easier down the road as you build credibility.

You can make a copy of our note taking strategy here

Before the interview:

Make sure you create a hypothesis for who you think your customer is. Who are you going to target for scheduling these interviews? What is their role in the company? Are they a decision maker?

Then go through some interview dry runs with your team. Decide what questions you want to ask and make sure they are open-ended. If anyone is asking closed-ended questions “gong” them or cut them off. It’s very important to keep your questions in the beginning open ended you can learn as much as possible about how they are using your service and the challenges they face in their business.

For more information on how to prepare to watch the videos on Steve Blank’s website linked below. Specifically, search for the sections labeled “Before Leaving The Building” and “Outside The Building” and watch the videos there.

http://steveblank.com/slides/#Videos

Setting up the interview:

Call each of your prospects/customers and set up a time to interview them. It is always better to meet in person but skype can also work. Call and then email each person.

You can use a service like Calendly to make it easier for them to schedule a time to talk.

If all else fails, walk into their office and ask to speak with a decision maker.

example e-mail template

[NAME],

I’ve been doing some research about how our customers are using (name of the product). I’m going to be in the area on (dates) and would love to buy you lunch or grab a coffee to learn more about your business.

What are your thoughts on setting up a time to talk?

Best

(contact info)

During the interview:

1. Always interview in pairs.
2. Assign each other roles. One person interviews while the other takes notes
3. Ask open-ended questions
4. Take detailed notes

NOTE TAKING FRAMEWORK

Goal: Set a goal. What hypothesis are you going test in this interview?

Current Situation (CS)

Tell me about your experience with screen printing software?

Example (EX)

Give me an example of that.

Problem(P)

What challenges do you face with your current software solutions?

EX

“Give me an example.” ask them to be specific.

“Why?”

Impact (IMP)

How does that impact your day? What impact does that have on your business?

EX

Why?

Ideal Solution (ID)

How would you solve this problem? What would an ideal solution look like.

B (Benefit)

How do you think your solution would improve your day?

How would this benefit you?

Story (S)

This is where you can tell a story using the customer’s language and insert how your MVP/Solution solves their problem. Close the deal! Get an early adopter.

Debrief

Use the entrepreneur’s mindset to debrief after each interview. This is about pattern recognition and qualitative data collection. Have each member of your team write down everything they think they heard from the customer. Then compare notes to see if you both interpreted the interview the same way.

Entrepreneur’s Mindset:

Here’s what I thought.

Here’s what I did.

Here’s what I learned.

Here’s what I’m doing next.

Here’s what I’m keeping in mind while I’m doing it!