When buying a coffee can no longer be your superpower... how can we still find customers that need a hero?
Guest Post By Robert Buehrig - Founder, Cogniom
Whether it’s a flat white, a herbal tea, or a double shot almond milk caramel latte, we’re all a sucker for the offer of a hot beverage, and for a startup, these drinks are liquid gold. Conversations that unfold in person simply can’t compare to the information gathered from a cold email or a 10 question survey alone. The offer of a “coffee” instantly creates a warm, safe and friendly environment to allow conversation to flow, but in a new world where we can’t even buy ourselves a coffee, how do we achieve the same outcomes and overcome the isolation kryptonite?
As we’ve navigated life in lockdown, virtual meetings have fast become our new norm with people more likely to accept these conversations simply for the human interaction and conversations themselves. Moving into a post lockdown lifestyle, the same mentality applies as we hesitate to reengage with physical connection. Truth is, we can all make our own coffee, and now more than ever, our superpower within making these interactions as valuable as possible for everyone involved.
The art of market research and customer validation is often one that is overlooked by a startup, more often than not, because they are so excited by the solution they have thought of. Fact is:
42% of businesses fail, simply because they build something nobody wants.
Why? Because founders will inevitably fall in love with the solution they build in their minds. They’ll tell their friends and their family, and of course Mum is going to tell you how amazing your ideas are, but without determining whether your solution fixes a real life problem or whether someone will actually part with money to have your solution, then you my friend, do not have a business.
Start Up 101:
Fall in love with a problem, not YOUR solution!
Truly understanding what the problem is, is half the battle and is a step in the start-up journey that should not be taken lightly. When engaging in conversations or interviews it pays to remember that if people are going to be generous enough to give up their time to help you, then you should make sure you have a plan to make the most of it.
What makes for a successful research conversation?
Listen - too often the natural human habit of needing to be heard can often get in the way of a good conversation. This is the time for you to hone in on your listening skills and let the other person talk. When conversations start flowing, you will often find information you didn’t even realise you needed to know.
Understand - Listening leads to understanding and being able to use the information to paint the full picture of the problem being faced. It is one thing to make some educated assumptions on what YOU think the problem is, but quite another to learn what the ACTUAL problem is from those who live it every day.
Ask - Asking questions leads to more opportunity for you to listen and gain a deeper understanding of the problem. This is part of a ‘root cause analysis’ and if you unleash your inner 5 year old and the unrelenting stream of “But, why?!” questions, it will enable you to sift through symptoms you might be hearing and get to the actual root cause of the problem you’re looking for.
DON’T SELL - this one is harder than you may think. Excitement kicks in as you listen to the other person speak and you start to think about how perfect your solution is or could be. Fact is, this isn’t your time to shine Susan; it’s theirs. Showing patience and compassion during this process helps you to engage more in the conversation, puts the other person at ease, and goes a long way in helping you build a strong rapport and positive business relationships.
There are of course tools to help you manage these conversations, such as:
Zoom Record - allowing you to come back and listen to the conversation again with fresh ears and perspective. (remember to notify and ask for permission to record first!)
Assumptions Register - you’ll have these conversations with A LOT of people and its absurd to try and keep it all in your head! The Assumptions Register helps you keep track of your pre-determined assumptions, new assumption made during conversations and those that have been dismissed.
Root Cause Maps - We spoke about unleashing your inner 5 year old earlier and this is how you create a visual understanding of where all your “But, why?!” questions lead you.
CRM - keep track of the people you’ve met, how you’ve met them and the conversations you’ve had. Software like HubSpot or Monday.com comes in handy for this.
These conversations will play such an important part in the foundations you build your business on. While coffee may be off the table, making them feel heard and validated will be reward enough. Take these people you speak to on your journey with you, include them in updates and where applicable reach out to them again for more of their input. They have said yes to giving up their time to help you for a reason. Whether they are passionate about the problem you’re trying to solve, or the journey of an entrepreneur and startup, they will in future become potential clients, advocates and top referrers of your business.
If we’re being truthful, this is only the tip of the iceberg, but market research doesn’t have to be your arch nemesis. Capes, masks or what side of your clothes you wear your underwear aside, you have the power to conduct great research and use it to build a successful business. Fact is, even with an established business, these skills and tools will always remain vital as market trends and client segments adapt to an ever-changing environment. Learn and master these skills now and your future self will thank you through every step of your business.
At Cogniom, we have spent countless hours and resources in having these conversations to validate, re-validate and double validate the paths we go down. Often times we’ve done it the hard way or the long way and have learned plenty from it. To help other budding start-ups we’ve created The Lightbulb Playbook in a bid to make navigating the Market Research process a much easier one. It talks about the different types of Market Research, provides tools to help conduct, techniques to make the most out of your experiences and resources to seek out and learn even more. We’ve also been fortunate enough to build a Customer Validation toolset and an Assumptions Register Toolkit with our own TANDM Suite software to help map problems and viable customer segments with ease.
The startup journey is an incredible one, full of ups and down and twists and turns, lessons and personal growth. Remember one thing: you are not alone. Coffee or no, there is an entire ecosystem ready to help you if you are ready to take on their learnings.