Download - How to do Customer Development Interviews
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The Customer Development Interview
Jason @EvanishProduct @KISSmetricsLean Startup Machine SF
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The Structure
3. Solution
2. Problem
1. Person
The MVP House
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The Structure – 1. Person
• Who are they? What’s their role?• How is your budget handled?• How do you find new products?• How much time do you spend on
[Task X]?
Goal: Get a baseline background of the person you’re talking to. Be broad.
Learn about them and their role in your industry.
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The Structure – 2. Problems
• NOT about the problems you think they have.
• What are your top 3 challenges you face in your job or life related to [industry X]?
• If you could wave a magic wand…what would the solution be?
Goal: Get them to say the problem you want to solve is a problem they have (prefer unprompted)
Learn about the problems they recognize first.
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The Structure – 3. Solution
• “That’s interesting” = Kiss of Death.• If they’re not anxious to use right
away, they’re not a key target. • Read body language, voice
inflection and energy level for signals of interest.
• Best reaction is actually following through after the meeting or calls.
Now you tell them about your product concept.
Goal: Discover if they’re interested in your solution and gather feedback.
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Tips for making the most of Interviews1. Take good notes.2. Involve other team members.3. Be conversational. 4. Go off script.5. Ask to see any MVPs they’ve made/use.6. If they’re excited about something, ask if they’ll pay for it.7. Show them mockups or early concepts if you have them
and pay attention to their reactions/feedback.8. Always Follow up.9. End with an ask.10. Be open to new problems and opportunities!11. Summarize and review your notes with your team.
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Where do you find people to interview?
10 – 20% Response Rate
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The Best Place to Find Candidates:
30-40% Response Rate
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Help not Sales
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Manage Expectations
• Only 10-20% of those you reach out to will respond.
• Getting started is the hardest, then you can find the channels.
• Different target customers often are found in different channels.
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Now what?• Interview in groups of 8-10
people per customer type.• Summarize notes and review
with others.• Look for common patterns
matching C-P-S (Customer – Problem – Solution).
• Compare to your high level metrics to see if anecdotes match data.
• Iterate if there’s no match.
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Contact me…I’m happy to help.
On Twitter: @EvanishOther sites: About.me/Evanish Email: [email protected]
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Further Reading - Books
The Lean StartupBy Eric Ries
Great high level overviewof all the principles of aLean Startup.
The Entrepreneur’s Guideto Customer DevelopmentBy Patrick Vlaskovits &
Brant Cooper
The Cliff Notes for LeanStartups; a must read for everyone on your team.
The Four Steps to theEpiphanyBy Steve Blank
The Bible of Lean Startups.Tough read, but excellentcontent.
Running LeanBy Ash Maurya
A practical guide to builda great lean startup fromthe creator of the lean canvas.
These books, especially 4 Steps, were key sources in creating this presentation & my learning of this methodology
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Further Reading – Lean Related Blogs
• Steve Blank, Godfather of Lean Startups
• Ash Maurya, Practitioner and action-oriented
• Dave McClure, Investor, advisor, badass
• Andrew Chen, Metrics and Customer acquisition expert
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Further Reading – Helpful Presentations
• The Customer Development Methodology – by Steve Blank
• Startup Metrics are for Pirates – by Dave McClure
• The Top 10 Reasons to not be a Lean Startup– By Patrick Vlaskovits & Brant Cooper
• How to recruit and interview potential customers – by Elizabeth Yin
• Minimum Desirable Product: Customer Development for the “Winner Take All” Web – by Andrew Chen