Research and Customer Development

Brian Menzies

Founders Institute. May 20, 2014

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Customer Research

1. What

2. Why

3. How

4. Competitors

5. Case Study

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Customer Research1. What

3

Value Proposition

Customer Segments

Customer Relationships

Channels

Revenue Streams

4

We need understanding and insights at BOTH a macro and micro level

From the Macro… …to the Micro

What are the industries, sectors, countries…

Who are the people (i.e their names and phone numbers)

Who are the leading incumbents

How much do they use the existing stuff per month

What are the value drivers

How much do they pay per transaction

What attributes do customers use to differentiate at decision points

How does the product help customers make money

How does the product make the customers look and feel great

Structural/Factual/Data Driven Personal/Subjective/Detailed

Total market size

etc

etc 5

“Is there a there there?”

Customer Research2. Why

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MY BABY IS NOT UGLY! TRUST BUT VERIFY

Customer Research2. Why

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Customer Research3. HowDO

1. Take a guess at what your perfect customer looks like

2. Identify 10 of them

3. Prepare a set of questions

4. Call them and ask for a meeting (or better get a referral)

5. Meet and ask your questions (take notes)

6. Question x-1 = “What else should I be thinking about”

7. Question x = “Who else should I talk to”

8. Refine and repeat

DO NOT

A. Try to sell your idea

B. Try to practice your pitch

C. Try to convince them you are right or they are wrong

D. Try to talk except to ask questions and be polite

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IF YOU DO THIS RIGHT YOU WILL GET TO TALK LATER, IF YOU SCREW THIS UP, THERE WON’T BE A LATER

Secret of customer research #1

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Secret of customer research #2

Market Research Sales Negotiation

Now

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Customer Research4. CompetitorsAdvantages of Knowing the Competitors

1. Relatability: if there are companies out there doing what you do then people will ‘get it’ faster. Use the Movie Pitch-line approach “It’s like Salesforce.com meets Tinder” or a direct comparison “It’s like Tiger Airways, but with out all the frills”

2. Evidence that you may not be crazy. (VC shortcut #1: if you don’t think you’ve got competitors you’re crazy)

3. If you can’t see any competitors your not trying hard enough. Porters 5 forces analysis might help you

4. You can steal there ideas about what works, customer lists, pricing systems, …

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Case Study

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Customer research

1. What

2. Why

3. How

4. Competitors

5. Case Study

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