Huzzah! Welcome to your entrepreneurial journey. I’m here to provide you with some basic tools to make founding a more enjoyable and seamless experience. Today I’d like to cover a little bit about Customer Discover.
One of the most important steps in the development of your business is conducting customer discovery. This process involves researching and understanding the needs and wants of your target market, and using that information to create a product or service that meets those needs.
The first step in customer discovery is to define your target market. This may involve identifying specific demographics, such as age, gender, income level, and location, as well as identifying the problem or need that your product or service will address.
Once you have a clear understanding of your target market, you can begin conducting research to gather information about their needs and wants. This can be done through a variety of methods, such as surveys, focus groups, and interviews. It’s important to speak with a variety of people, including both potential customers and industry experts, in order to get a well-rounded understanding of the market.
As you gather information, take note of any recurring themes or patterns that emerge. This will give you a sense of the most pressing needs and wants of your target market, and will help you to create a product or service that meets those needs.
Once you have a good understanding of your target market, you can begin developing your product or service. As you do so, it’s important to continue to test and iterate based on customer feedback. This will help you to ensure that your product or service is meeting the needs of your target market and is well-positioned for success.
In summary, conducting customer discovery is a crucial step in the development of your business because it enables you to solve a problem. It helps you to understand the needs and wants of your target market, and use that information to create a product or service that meets those needs. Keep testing and iterating as you go, and you will be well on your way to creating a successful business.
To DO:
- Prepare a list of open-ended questions: The goal of customer discovery interviews is to gather as much information as possible about the customer’s needs and wants. Open-ended questions, such as “What are some of the biggest challenges you face when it comes to [your product or service]?” or “Can you tell me about a time when you were particularly happy or unhappy with a similar product or service?”, will help to elicit detailed and informative responses.
- Schedule the interviews in advance: Reach out to potential interviewees well in advance to schedule a time that works for both parties. This will help to ensure that you are able to conduct the interviews in a timely manner, and will also give the interviewees time to prepare.
- Listen actively: During the interview, actively listen to the customer’s responses. Take notes, and ask follow-up questions to clarify or expand upon their answers. Avoid interrupting or steering the conversation in a certain direction.
- Keep the conversation informal and conversational: Try to keep the conversation informal and conversational. This will help to put the interviewee at ease, and will make them more likely to share their thoughts and feelings candidly.
- Thank the interviewee: After the interview, thank the interviewee for their time and input. Provide them with a summary of what was discussed during the interview and how the information will be used.
- Conduct multiple interviews: Don’t stop at one interview, try to conduct multiple interviews with different potential customers. This will help to validate or refute assumptions, and will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the market.
- Follow up with interviewee: After you have finished your interviews, it is a good practice to follow up with your interviewees. You could ask for their feedback on your product or service, or simply check in to see how they are doing.
What NOT to do:
- Don’t lead the interviewee: Avoid leading the interviewee by asking questions that suggest a certain answer or by pushing them towards a particular solution. Instead, ask open-ended questions that allow the interviewee to share their own thoughts and experiences.
- Don’t assume you already know the answers: Even if you have a hypothesis of what the customer needs or wants, avoid assuming that you already know the answers. Listen actively and be open to new information and insights.
- Don’t ignore negative feedback: Negative feedback can be difficult to hear, but it is essential in order to improve your product or service. Avoid dismissing or ignoring negative feedback, and instead use it as an opportunity to learn and make improvements.
- Don’t make the interview too long: Keep the interview as concise as possible, and avoid asking irrelevant questions or going off on tangents. This can be frustrating for the interviewee and can make it difficult to stay focused on the main points.
- Don’t forget to ask for permission to contact again: Always ask for permission to contact the interviewee again in the future. This will be useful for future follow-up, validation or for any other reason you might have.
- Don’t ignore privacy and data protection rules: Always be mindful of the interviewee’s privacy and data protection rights. This means not asking for sensitive information, or not sharing the information you gather with others without the interviewee’s consent.
- Don’t ignore other data collection methods: Customer discovery interviews are just one way to gather information about your target market. Be sure to consider other data collection methods, such as surveys, focus groups, and online research, to get a well-rounded understanding of the market.
REMEMBER:
The most important thing to remember when conducting a customer interview is to listen actively and be open to new information and insights.
Active listening means paying close attention to what the customer is saying, taking notes, and asking follow-up questions to clarify or expand upon their answers. It also means being non-judgmental and avoiding interrupting or steering the conversation in a certain direction. By actively listening to the customer, you will be able to gather detailed and informative information about their needs and wants, and use that information to improve your product or service.
Being open to new information and insights means being willing to consider new perspectives, even if they differ from your own. This can be challenging, especially if you have a specific idea or hypothesis in mind, but it is crucial in order to truly understand your target market and create a product or service that meets their needs.
By actively listening and being open to new information, you’ll be better equipped to gather valuable insights and improve your product or service. It will help you to make more informed decisions about your business and ultimately increase your chances of success.
AVOID:
The most important thing to ignore when conducting a customer interview is your own biases and assumptions.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that you already know what the customer needs or wants, or to let your own biases and experiences shape the way you interpret their responses. This can lead to a narrow understanding of the market and can prevent you from identifying new opportunities or innovative solutions.
When conducting customer interviews, it’s important to keep an open mind and be willing to consider new perspectives, even if they differ from your own. Avoid jumping to conclusions or dismissing feedback that doesn’t align with your existing assumptions. Instead, listen actively and ask open-ended questions to gather as much information as possible about the customer’s needs and wants.
It’s also important to avoid leading questions, or asking questions that suggest a certain answer. This can bias the customer’s responses and can make it difficult to get an accurate understanding of the market.
By being aware of your own biases and assumptions and actively working to ignore them, you will be better equipped to gather valuable insights and create a product or service that truly meets the needs of your target market.
The MOST important thing to ask:
The most important thing to ask when conducting a customer interview is open-ended questions that elicit detailed information about the customer’s needs and wants.
For example, you could ask questions such as:
- “Can you tell me about a time when you were particularly happy or unhappy with a similar product or service?”
- “What are some of the biggest challenges you face when it comes to [your product or service]?”
- “What are the most important features or characteristics you look for in a product or service like this?”
- “What is your current process for solving the problem that our product is trying to solve?”
These types of questions will help to elicit detailed and informative responses, and will give you a better understanding of the customer’s needs and wants. It will also give you an understanding of the pain points or the problems that your product or service is trying to solve.
Additionally, you could ask questions that will give you an idea of the customer’s decision-making process, such as “What factors influence your decision to purchase a product or service like this?” or “What are your criteria when evaluating a product or service like this?”
Asking open-ended questions will help you to gather as much information as possible about the customer’s needs and wants, and will allow you to create a product or service that truly meets those needs.
By Maryam Garg
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