Running a business can be viewed as a series of experiments. At the beginning before the customer development research, we start with a set of loose answers to questions that determine the fate of our company:
- Who is our customer?
- What problem are we solving?
- If the problem exists, do our customers know they have it?
- How have potential customers addressed this problem so far?
- How much are customers willing to pay to solve the problem?
- How can we ensure that we regularly have conversations with potential customers?
Our questions will change if we achieve initial success and gain our first group of paying customers. Over time, questions will become more specific:
- Why does this group of customers buy more?
- Why are these customers twice as likely to end our collaboration?
- How can we encourage our customers to recommend us more often?
This process has no end. Customers are constantly changing, and their demands are continually increasing. Remember when free shipping in e-commerce was still remarkable and not a commodity? Exactly.
Many analytically oriented marketers advocate testing hypotheses through customer development research and quantitative experiments for such questions. According to this group (overly simplifying their argument), it’s enough to create an appropriate landing page and purchase a suitable amount of Google Ads. We will have the experiment results after two weeks and a certain amount of budget spent.
This “lean startup” logic does not work in the case of B2B companies. Conducting an appropriately scaled test is economically unfeasible, especially considering the cost of lost opportunities, not just direct costs. What should we do when we have questions and run a B2B business?
What is Customer Development Research?
Once we have a functioning, profitable business at a particular scale, we fall into cognitive bias. This bias, known as the ‘curse of knowledge ‘, makes us overestimate the extent to which others understand what we understand. We think that because we are constantly in contact with our customers, we know the market and have a grasp of it. This is a mistake. Your customers are only a tiny slice of the market. The reality looks more like this:
If you want to know whether you should launch a new line of business or product, a new marketing initiative, or expand your communication to a new target group—first ask the interested parties. Sometimes, they are your clients. More often, they are not. Their insights can be a game-changer, guiding you toward profitable decisions and away from potential pitfalls. The amount of money you can save by not creating something that no one cares about is significant, and an organization that makes such decisions will be more profitable and focused than one that develops three other initiatives alongside a critical project, dispersing the team.
How to arrange Customer Development Research?
First of all, if you cannot speak with 15-20 representatives of your target group, assume that you won’t be able to sell to them either, and just kill the project before you start. An unresolved issue of reaching the target group will kill even the best product.
The simplest way to arrange interviews is through a cold email or a brief, direct message on LinkedIn or another social media platform, explaining who you are and what you want, for example:
Hi, this is Bartek Majewski.
I am the founder of the consulting firm Casbeg. I’m reaching out because we are currently creating a <service/product/course/training/software/hardware> for <recipient’s position> at <recipient’s company>. Could I talk to you for 20 minutes and ask you a few questions about your work? I’m particularly interested in how your production planning process looks.
If you agree, I’ll come to your office with a cup of your favorite coffee at a time that suits you (a video call is fine, too).
Customer Development Research: in-person meeting, video call, or phone?
Any of these three formats is acceptable. However, refrain from sending forms to fill out and exchanging emails. You want unfiltered information from your interviewees. You might be asking the wrong questions, and forms do not enable your clients to tell you that. I’ve been a part of dozens of those kinds of interviews on both sides of the table – over 50% of the times I’ve been interviewed, they were asking the wrong questions (mostly to confirm what they think they know).
If you are meeting face-to-face or having a video call, try to arrange the meeting so the client is in a place where they usually work. This often leads to a deeper understanding because the client can show you something or ask a colleague about something. You may also notice something relevant in the background (e.g., all your interviewees read the same book, have a fax machine on their floor, or have a pile of strange, pink, perforated sheets on their desk).
It’s worth bringing someone with you who can comfortably take notes, allowing you to have a more relaxed conversation.
Customer Development Research: how to start the meeting?
A simple opening script before we move to the questions is as follows:
Hi,
Thanks for meeting with me. I want to determine whether what I’m doing makes sense. I don’t want to suggest any answers, so I will tell you what we will do at the end of the meeting and answer all your questions. Specifically, I’m trying to understand the resource management process in your delivery team. The more details you can share with me, the more helpful it will be. Nothing you say will bore me. I will interrupt when I don’t understand something or need to dive deeper.
What to watch out for during Customer Development Research?
Research to Confirm a Thesis
Remember to maintain as much openness as possible, avoid interpreting in real time, and try influencing your interviewee’s responses. Your role in customer development research is not to persuade but to understand.
Lack of Clear Patterns in the Information You Receive from Interviewees
If after twenty conversations you feel that there are no patterns, consider whether:
- The diversity of companies where your interviewees are employed could be better, and you need to talk to a more homogeneous group. Then, try to isolate, for example, just one industry, company size, or product company.
- The diversity of your interviewees could be better, and you don’t need to do customer development research with a more homogeneous group of people.
- The sample size you have chosen needs to be more significant. It’s hard to notice a pattern if you have only had four conversations.
Selling During the Customer Development Research
I often repeat a saying from one of my former bosses:
“He who comes for money will get advice.
He who comes for advice will get money.”
The most unmistakable sign that your service or product has traction is spontaneous interest in what you do. If your client asks about the solution you are working on and requests more information after a brief explanation, it’s a great signal that your idea has value and you can articulate it.
The problem with this paragraph is that those conducting customer development research need help restraining themselves. They start selling instead of allowing their interviewee to express (or not) interest. Don’t do this. Customer development is a research process. If a client expresses interest in buying, note it and schedule someone else for a strictly sales conversation.
Improper Priority on Implementing Research Findings. Be wary of the trap of valuing information from non-customers more than that from paying customers. First, try to satisfy the people who are paying your current bills, and only later, seek out those who may pay for your new home.
Pay attention to the language that customers use. Customers provide the best metaphors, terms, and descriptions of what you do and the problem. Try to record what they say word-for-word. Salespeople and those working with marketing content in your company will appreciate it.
How to make Customer Development Research easier?
For example, a ready-made sheet containing: “49 questions worth asking during customer development research”+ a list of segmentation data to compare the research results. FYI: customer development research should last about 20-30 minutes, so use only some questions in one conversation!
