Return-Path: Delivered-To: andrew@sterlingcal.com Received: from reseller401.webserversystems.com by reseller401.webserversystems.com with LMTP id sDLDLF1E62VQXwkAchKAPA (envelope-from ) for ; Fri, 08 Mar 2024 11:01:17 -0600 Return-path: Envelope-to: andrew@sterlingcal.com Delivery-date: Fri, 08 Mar 2024 11:01:17 -0600 Received: from o14.ptr1576.mail.beehiiv.com ([159.183.141.183]:48606) by reseller401.webserversystems.com with esmtps (TLS1.2) tls TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 (Exim 4.96.2) (envelope-from ) id 1ridav-002aHw-0C for andrew@sterlingcal.com; Fri, 08 Mar 2024 11:01:17 -0600 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=mail.beehiiv.com; h=content-type:from:mime-version:subject:reply-to:list-unsubscribe:to: cc:content-type:from:subject:to; s=s1; bh=MpmhMsRvvr52O5PQSijDlfOb3O14Gl3huJYIEiTjUmA=; b=QNfR5RacyH/9UIR7rlj8F/UYfzQHOCNO2g3d91TrsMk5bWDNo/U4V1osbj0BqOhGc+1H RGLSFhQAgCIoNMQ1jVtAvIFNDCafl5zcGvcPv5FJIKRiQtaQtIpVS2co7vUUivUreGjDbU Y17h1Gpujo/0ufW/1kGNCdirQxkkkgacX++YopVZGVwL1pUC0jMxIiP2PzVB6lJku71f8C cUk0NdsjhoyZ0lxLN1ZOK1gvEtgSEksBEH9P0iFbytI3DTbXwEtVIupk3Zo3HYHxv6CFiZ Cep/CHmNa5EhQ2hl8y3vFqUoY8x5WFFLIdpB7ImI96jkcmBEkOT7WrUX+8NivNVA== Received: by recvd-c464bfb6d-6sfds with SMTP id recvd-c464bfb6d-6sfds-1-65EB4447-12 2024-03-08 17:00:55.083910697 +0000 UTC m=+760222.082301156 Received: from NDAyMzQxODk (unknown) by geopod-ismtpd-21 (SG) with HTTP id Yfkrdmd-S7yFaUSGDn2WDQ Fri, 08 Mar 2024 17:00:54.988 +0000 (UTC) Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=59eeee9630004dee486f0ab3cf3bb6754783eec236794f5064b81e8bfc01 Date: Fri, 08 Mar 2024 17:01:05 +0000 (UTC) From: Collin Stewart Mime-Version: 1.0 Message-ID: Subject: customer development questions Reply-To: Collin Stewart sId: 3c5b97ff-00a9-4acc-916d-c137bca24b1d x-newsletter: =?us-ascii?Q?https=3A=2F=2Fpredictablerevenue-newsletter=2Ebeehiiv=2Ecom=2Fp=2Fcustomer-d?= =?us-ascii?Q?evelopment-questions?= x-newsletter-id: https://predictablerevenue-newsletter.beehiiv.com/ Feedback-ID: =?us-ascii?Q?c45fb510-be1f-498e-a1e2-1806f0f9af1a=3Anewsletter=3A3c5b97ff-00a9-?= =?us-ascii?Q?4acc-916d-c137bca24b1d=3A23270855726497d?= x-beehiiv-type: newsletter x-newsletter-signup: https://predictablerevenue-newsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe x-list-id: 3c5b97ff-00a9-4acc-916d-c137bca24b1d x-list-owner: List-Unsubscribe: =?us-ascii?Q?=3Cmailto=3A3c5b97ff-00a9-4acc-916d-c137bca24b1d+1d17dc26-c1df-44e?= =?us-ascii?Q?0-812a-883b6ad5b6bc+c45fb510-be1f-498e-?= =?us-ascii?Q?a1e2-1806f0f9af1a=40unsub=2Ebeehiiv=2Ecom=3E=2C?= =?us-ascii?Q?_=3Chttps=3A=2F=2Fpredictablerevenue-newsletter=2Ebeehiiv=2Ecom=2Fsubscribe=2F1?= =?us-ascii?Q?d17dc26-c1df-44e0-812a-883b6ad5b6bc=2Fman?= =?us-ascii?Q?age=3Fpost=5Fid=3Dc45fb510-be1f-498e-a1e2-180?= =?us-ascii?Q?6f0f9af1a=3E?= x-beehiiv-ids: =?us-ascii?Q?{=22account=5Fname=22=3A=22https=3A=2F=2Fpredictablerevenue-newsletter=2Ebeehiiv?= =?us-ascii?Q?=2Ecom=2F=22=2C=22campaign=5Fid=22=3A=22c45fb510-be1f-498?= =?us-ascii?Q?e-a1e2-1806f0f9af1a=22=2C=22category=22=3A=22newsle?= =?us-ascii?Q?tter=22=2C=22email=5Fgenerated=5Fat=22=3A1709917254=2C=22?= =?us-ascii?Q?user=5Fid=22=3A=223c5b97ff-00a9-4acc-916d-c137b?= =?us-ascii?Q?ca24b1d=22}?= X-SG-EID: =?us-ascii?Q?u001=2E7ozyt+tmjDsHnEocxX8pymFA2v5OOh2V4Pdr6hGVjZo99sLHT4OeEg7as?= =?us-ascii?Q?oEFtQzIa0qAOkk1QezFA4qrCcff9558yNK8x6zQ?= =?us-ascii?Q?0aLhxDCyAuB9kgcSLas3IIKR+fvCUJBBflcrG2d?= =?us-ascii?Q?aR8C8bbC3Z2cGeTdbsn3Jq7FBM+mxz8GKk12dON?= =?us-ascii?Q?l+3IlvRg=2FTUjz1jBq7EZdnRuPXvzAMwqYBm64rH?= =?us-ascii?Q?7fc=2FkHOcIH7CVF5jbZunNUEDvhnadYg=2F1ITDva6?= =?us-ascii?Q?8UW6OvPITnUAoGKdHZ4MhONKV=2F8Rg3gZM=2FrHPv2?= =?us-ascii?Q?my+oDuj4=3D?= X-SG-ID: =?us-ascii?Q?u001=2ESdBcvi+Evd=2FbQef8eZF3BpTL9BgbK5wfSJMJGMsmprAVgeiC8iaV7rEmQ?= =?us-ascii?Q?+cYi2k77LZHfxe2+yt1r9a6CXJIrmbLshJR0ilG?= =?us-ascii?Q?adWf+bVeCmaOBnXqHNqB1DDyGTw+XmJMRQkbHkS?= =?us-ascii?Q?KVDIFrhOAAO4TPvBAxF8lu+yfckXW8nHNhbEshW?= =?us-ascii?Q?0ofUHNARnTA2YLPy2DOmIi8k7xBrCTBDg1MpoPW?= =?us-ascii?Q?mJoZ1fT3DMGgMbPWMCCoL7=2FF7vVQZl2f0U2CZpl?= =?us-ascii?Q?MMJomLjGJezFtyXP8MDwyb2wsA=3D=3D?= To: "andrew@sterlingcal.com" X-Entity-ID: u001.RuZ2+X9IBGtjUb8qq3teHQ== X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.6 X-Spam-Score: -5 X-Spam-Bar: / X-Spam-Flag: NO --59eeee9630004dee486f0ab3cf3bb6754783eec236794f5064b81e8bfc01 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Mime-Version: 1.0 Good morning Andrew,=20 How many customer development interviews did you run before you started bui= lding?=20 Please reply back with the number =F0=9F=99=82=20 _For those interested, voting on the product market fit question from last = week was 25 x =E2=80=9CYes=E2=80=9D and 5 x =E2=80=9CNo=E2=80=9D. Thank you= to everyone who sent me their votes, encouragement, and feedback. _ The first company I started (a crm company in 2012 wasn=E2=80=99t my bright= est move!) we did what I thought were tons of =E2=80=98customer interviews= =E2=80=99 but in reality they were =E2=80=98tell me you like my idea=E2=80= =99 interviews. The result? 50 people told me my idea sounded really clever= , we built my ideas, and 0 people thought my clever idea was worth paying f= or.=20 I got out of the building but I forgot to bring my listening hat. I didn=E2= =80=99t even ask great questions. The typical interview followed a similar = pattern: share my positioning statement (_I=E2=80=99m building X for Y who = Z_), share some mockups, and ask for feedback on what I shared. This focuse= d the conversation on me and my ideas and not the potential customer and th= eir problems. In hindsight, it=E2=80=99s not difficult to see where I went = wrong.=20 After banging my head against a wall for 18 months I realized that I needed= a different approach. I decided to stop trying to validate my ideas and go= back to my sales roots, using questions to find pain. The difference in re= sponse was night and day. The improved outcome was mostly related to me pul= ling my head out of my ass and coming into the interviews with an open mind= .=20 I shaped my new customer development interviews after my Discovery call pro= cess:=20 First - understand the context of their role (where are they in the org cha= rt, what are they responsible for, what tools do they use already, etc=E2= =80=A6). Next - look for unmet needs. Last - get a feeling for the impact of those unmet needs on the organizatio= n.=20 Your context questions will vary based on the type of users you=E2=80=99re = talking to and the type of product you=E2=80=99re building.=20 The =E2=80=9Cmagic wand question=E2=80=9D helps find the unmet needs and my= favourite version of this is =E2=80=9Cif I could solve any problem for you= related to X, what would it be?=E2=80=9D. You may not need =E2=80=98relate= d to X=E2=80=99 but sometimes it=E2=80=99s handy. It=E2=80=99s ok to loop t= hrough a few of these but it=E2=80=99s important to note which pains are to= p of mind. If you have to ask 5-10 times in order for them to list the prob= lem you=E2=80=99re working on, that might be a sign.=20 I use two questions (_shoutout to Dan Olsen for these_) to quantify the use= r=E2=80=99s pain. First is, =E2=80=9Con a scale of 1-10, how important is t= his problem?=E2=80=9D and the second is, =E2=80=9Con a scale of 1-10, how s= atisfied are you with how you=E2=80=99re currently solving it?=E2=80=9D. W= hat I look for is 10 / 10 importance and 1/10 satisfaction. This prevents y= ou from getting sucked into getting excited about pains that nobody really = cares about.=20 I could go on but I guess that=E2=80=99s what the book is for. If you read this far, I=E2=80=99d love to hear from you. What are your go-t= o customer discovery questions? Happy GTM, Collin=20 =E2=80=94 cofounder & ceo=20 predictable revenue=20 =E2=80=94=E2=80=94=E2=80=94 You are reading a plain text version of this post. For the best experience,= copy and paste this link in your browser to view the post online: https://predictablerevenue-newsletter.beehiiv.com/p/customer-development-qu= estions --59eeee9630004dee486f0ab3cf3bb6754783eec236794f5064b81e8bfc01 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Mime-Version: 1.0 <= meta name=3D"supported-color-schemes" content=3D"light"/>customer de= velopment questions customer development questions <= !--[if mso]>96=
How many customer development interviews did you run before you st= arted building?  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ &= #8204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= 0;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌&= #160;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ̴= 4; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ &#= 8204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = ;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌&#= 160;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= ; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = 204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= 60;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌=  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ R= 04; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ &= #8204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= 0;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌&= #160;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ̴= 4; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ &#= 8204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = ;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌&#= 160;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= ; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = 204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= 60;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌=  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ R= 04; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ &= #8204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= 0;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌&= #160;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ̴= 4; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ &#= 8204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = ;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌&#= 160;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= ; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

March 08, 202= 4   |   Read Online

=
3D"fb" 3D"tw" 3D"in" 3D"email"
= 3D""
= <= td class=3D"dd" align=3D"left" style=3D"padding:0px 15px;text-align:left;wo= rd-break:break-word;">

Collin
=E2=80=94
cofounder & ceo
predi= ctable revenue

Good morning Andrew,

How many customer development interviews = did you run before you started building?

Please reply back with the number =F0=9F=99=82=C2=A0

For those interested, voting on the pro= duct market fit question from last week was 25 x =E2=80=9CYes=E2=80=9D and = 5 x =E2=80=9CNo=E2=80=9D. Thank you to everyone who sent me their votes, en= couragement, and feedback.

= The first company I started (a crm company in 2012 wasn=E2=80=99t my brigh= test move!) we did what I thought were tons of =E2=80=98customer interviews= =E2=80=99 but in reality they were =E2=80=98tell me you like my idea=E2=80= =99 interviews. The result? 50 people told me my idea sounded really clever= , we built my ideas, and 0 people thought my clever idea was worth paying f= or.

I got out of the building = but I forgot to bring my listening hat. I didn=E2=80=99t even ask great que= stions. The typical interview followed a similar pattern: share my position= ing statement (I=E2=80=99m building X for Y who Z), share some mocku= ps, and ask for feedback on what I shared. This focused the conversation on= me and my ideas and not the potential customer and their problems. In hind= sight, it=E2=80=99s not difficult to see where I went wrong.

After banging my head against a wall for 18 = months I realized that I needed a different approach. I decided to stop try= ing to validate my ideas and go back to my sales roots, using questions to = find pain. The difference in response was night and day. The improved outco= me was mostly related to me pulling my head out of my ass and coming into t= he interviews with an open mind.

I shaped my new customer development interviews after my Discovery cal= l process:

First - understand the context of their role (where are = they in the org chart, what are they responsible for, what tools do they us= e already, etc=E2=80=A6).

Next= - look for unmet needs.

Last = - get a feeling for the impact of those unmet needs on the organization.

Your context questions will vary= based on the type of users you=E2=80=99re talking to and the type of produ= ct you=E2=80=99re building.

Th= e =E2=80=9Cmagic wand question=E2=80=9D helps find the unmet needs and my f= avourite version of this is =E2=80=9Cif I could solve any problem for you r= elated to X, what would it be?=E2=80=9D. You may not need =E2=80=98related = to X=E2=80=99 but sometimes it=E2=80=99s handy. It=E2=80=99s ok to loop thr= ough a few of these but it=E2=80=99s important to note which pains are top = of mind. If you have to ask 5-10 times in order for them to list the proble= m you=E2=80=99re working on, that might be a sign.

I use two questions (shoutout to Dan Olsen for thes= e) to quantify the user=E2=80=99s pain. First is, =E2=80=9Con a scale o= f 1-10, how important is this problem?=E2=80=9D and the second is, =E2=80= =9Con a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you with how you=E2=80=99re curren= tly solving it?=E2=80=9D. What I look for is 10 / 10 importance and 1/10 sa= tisfaction. This prevents you from getting sucked into getting excited abou= t pains that nobody really cares about.

I could go on but I guess that=E2=80=99s what the book is for.

If you read this far, I=E2=80=99= d love to hear from you. What are your go-to customer discovery questions? =

Happy GTM,

3D"yt"3D"in"
 

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