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Part II. Ask Mom: How to communicate with customers and confirm the correctness of your business idea if everyone around is lying?

Part II. Ask Mom: How to communicate with customers and confirm the correctness of your business idea if everyone around is lying?

Continuation of the synopsis of the book.
The author tells how to distinguish false information from the truth, communicate with the user and segment your audience

The first part

Fake information

Here are three types of misinformation that you need to pay close attention to because it gives a false impression:

  1. compliments;
  2. Chatter (general phrases, hypothetical reasoning, talk about the future);
  3. Ideas

Compliments:

Disturbing remarks (after returning to the office):

  • "The meeting went great";
  • “We get a lot of positive feedback”;
  • "Everyone I've spoken to is thrilled with the idea"

All of these are warning signs. If you hear something similar from yourself or from colleagues, try to specify the meaning.

Why did this person like the idea? How much money can he save with it? How will she fit into his life? What else did he try to do to solve this problem, but without success? If you do not know the answers to these questions, then you heard a compliment, and did not receive real information.

Golden Rule: the compliments you hear from customers are like samovar gold - they shine, distract your attention and have no value.

Chatter:

There are three common forms of chatter:

  • vague statements ("I usually", "I always", "I never");
  • promises for the future (“I will probably do it”, “I will do it”);
  • hypothetical reasoning (“I can”, “I could”).

When someone starts talking about things they do “always”, “usually”, “never” or “would do”, know that this is just idle chatter.

Use the "Mom Test" and return the interlocutors from a hypothetical future to a specific past.

Ideas

Entrepreneurs are constantly drowning in a whirlpool of ideas. We suffer from an overabundance of ideas, not a lack of them. And those around us throw new ones with excitement.

At some point in the course of a well-structured conversation, your interlocutor may, figuratively speaking, move to your side of the table. And this is a good sign. Bright perspectives appear before his eyes, he perks up and begins to rain down on you mountains of ideas, describe possibilities and offer various functions.

Write this information down, but don't be too quick to add it to your to-do list. Startups should focus on one scalable idea and execute it, rather than jumping at every exciting opportunity.

List of questions to ask to test the viability of the proposed idea:

  • Why do you need her? 
  • “What actions can you perform with it?”
  • "How do you manage without her?"
  •  “Do you think we should add this feature immediately, or can it be done later?”
  • “How will she fit into your current job?”

Golden RuleA: Ideas and feature requests should be analyzed, not blindly implemented.

Right and wrong conversations with a potential user

Very, very wrong conversation. 

You: "Hello! Thank you for your time. We're developing apps for phones and tablets that help people stay fit, and we want to understand how you do it." (This is not a bad start, but I wouldn't go into the details of the proposed idea right away, as it hints transparently to your interlocutors about what answers you hope to hear.)

He: "OK" (I don't exercise at all, so you won't take much of my time.)

You: "How often do you go to the gym?" (These are common demographics that will not reveal anything new to you, but still help you start a conversation, understand who the person you are talking to is, and ask the right follow-up questions.)

He: "I don't actually go to the gym" (Great! This is where we end)

You: "What do you think is the main problem, why don't you go to the gym?" (From that moment on, the conversation goes completely wrong. Instead of understanding whether keeping fit is a real problem for our interlocutor, you get ahead of yourself and start to delve into the details. Any answer will lead to dangerous delusions)

He: “Probably the problem is time. You see, I'm always busy with something" (Wait a minute, who says not going to the gym is a problem for me? I think I just said that I don't care about going to the gym. But if you need to choose some answer, I will say that it is a matter of convenience. And it’s not at all that I do push-ups once every five years. It’s convenient for me to do push-ups according to this schedule.)

You: "Great. Great. Could you rank these four factors - convenience, personal touch, novelty and cost - in descending order of importance in relation to a fitness program? (Pay attention, you still think that your interlocutor cares about his form. But by asking such questions, you will not know whether all of the above matters to this person in any way.)

He: "Probably so: convenience, price, individual approach, novelty" (You asked, I answered. Naturally, purely hypothetically)

You: "Amazing. Thank you very much. We are developing an application that will help you do physical education with all possible conveniences without leaving your home. I think it will be great for solving the problems that you set for yourself ”(There is a complete misunderstanding and misinterpretation of what was heard in their favor. And now you're asking for a compliment)

He: "Not bad idea. Perhaps I'll try to use it when this application appears ”(Low-key compliment, no commitment, evasive response)

You: "Wonderful. I'll give you access to the beta so you can see how it works" (We have a user!)

He: "Thank you!" (I'm not going to use it at all.)

This conversation is terrible, because if you do not pay attention to the details, it seems that everything went perfectly. By focusing too quickly on one problem area, you may imagine that you are clear about the "core" problem, when in fact you are not. You just brought your interlocutor to her.

Proper conversation

You: "How often do you go to the gym?"

He: "Hm. I don't actually go to the gym."Looks like we're done with this.)

You: "And what's the reason?" (Let's try to understand the motives of our interlocutor, instead of taking it for granted that good physical shape is among his top priorities)

He: "Don't even know. You see, I don't care too much."I am not trying to solve this problem myself and it is unlikely that I will buy or use this app)

You: “And when was the last time you tried to do physical education? Have you tried joining a gym or running or anything like that?” (Let's catch on to general information to make sure ...)

He: “I actually played sports in high school. But since I started a family, it has ceased to play a big role for me. Playing outdoors with the kids gives me all the cardio I need.”

You: "Yes, I understand. Thank you for your time"

We had a pleasant conversation with this person, found out what we needed, and now we can say goodbye to him.

Golden Rule: Move from the general to the specific and don't go into details until you get a strong signal. This recommendation applies to your business as a whole, and to each specific conversation.

Golden Rule: getting to know clients and their problems is better during a short conversation about simple things than during long formal negotiations.

Formation of user segments

Choose a segment to analyze and divide it into subgroups until you understand who you should talk to and where you can find these people.

Start with a broad segment and ask yourself:

  • Which people in this group most want my idea to be realized?
  • Will everyone in this group or only a fraction of them buy / use the product?
  • Why do they want him to appear? (So ​​what is their purpose or problem?)
  • Does the whole group have a motive or only a part of it?
  • What are the additional motives?
  • What other groups of people have similar motives?

That. you will form segments of two types: the first is groups of people united by specific demographic characteristics, the second is a set of motives.

As you can see, some groups turned out to be more vague, others more specific. Let's continue to divide the fuzzy groups by answering the above questions again.

Who in this subgroup most wants to see your idea come to fruition?

Then we analyze the behavior of the representatives of these groups in order to understand where to find them.

  • What are these people doing now to achieve a goal or cope with a problem?
  • Where can I find representatives of the group I'm interested in?
  • Where can I find people who are currently using workarounds?

 
Do not know where to find representatives of one of these groups? Go back to your list and keep splitting your customer base until you figure out where to find the people you need. If it is impossible to establish contact with representatives of a particular client segment, then it will not bring you any benefit.

Golden Rule: Until you set yourself up to look for clearly articulated, consistent issues and goals, your customer segment will remain blurred.

Golden Rule: good customer segments are formed according to the principle of "who - where". If you are not sure where to look for customers, continue to divide the selected segment into smaller subgroups until you gain clarity.

Golden Rule: if you are not clear what you want to know, you do not even need to start a conversation.

Communication with potential users

Before starting a conversation:
 

  • If this has not been done before, choose a clear client segment that you can find representatives of;
  • Together with your team, formulate three main questions to gather information;
  • If possible, think of an ideal scenario for the next steps and commitments;
  • If communication is a suitable and effective tool for you, consider who exactly you should talk to;
  • Try to guess what your future interlocutors are most concerned about;
  • If the questions you want to ask can be answered with "desk research", do that research first.

During a conversation:

  • Clearly formulate the topic;
  • Ask the right questions that will pass the "Mom Test";
  • Avoid compliments, hold back chatter, get to the bottom of it;
  • Take notes;
  • If possible, make firm commitments and fix the next steps.

After the conversation:

  • Analyze your notes and important remarks from the client with your team;
  • If necessary, transfer the records to the information system;
  • Make adjustments to your assumptions and plans;
  • Think of the next "big three" questions.

Brief summary:

mom test:

  1. Talk about the life of the interlocutor, and not about your idea;
  2. Ask about specific things that have happened in the past, not about views or opinions about the future;
  3. Talk less, listen more.

Frequent mistakes:

  1. You are asking for compliments. “I’m thinking about starting a new business… Do you think this will work?” “I had an amazing idea for an app. Do you like it?"
  2. You reveal your soul to others (“the problem of excessive inspiration”). “Here is the top secret project that is causing me to quit my job. What do you think?" “Please be honest and tell me what you really think about it!”
  3. You act assertively and put the pitch into action. “No, you didn’t understand me ...” “True, but in addition, another task is being solved!”
  4. You are being too formal. “First of all, let me thank you for agreeing to this interview. I'll just ask you a few questions and then you can get back to your business." "On a five-point scale, how much would you rate..." "Let's set up a meeting."
  5. You interfere with the free flow of information. “Take good care of the product. And I'll find out everything we need." “Customers told me exactly that!” “I don’t have time to talk to anyone. I need to write a program!”
  6. You collect compliments, not facts and commitments. "We're getting a lot of positive feedback." "Everyone I've talked to is excited about the idea."

Source: habr.com

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