Ventureprise Executive Director Paul Wetenhall Continues Customer Discovery Series – 4th Installment focuses on Customer Interviews
Previous installments have described how customer discovery helps the entrepreneur develop a well-defined value proposition and business model. Today, we explore the critical enabler of effective customer interviews.
Meaningful information is generated from about 30 interviews in our experience with numerous teams. The National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program, in examining hundreds of teams, finds that 100 interviews generally enable a founder to develop a solid business model, including value proposition.
Effective customer interviews share characteristics that the entrepreneur can control. At the most basic, the best customer interviews become conversations as you listen and learn. Importantly, the interview focuses on the customer, not the new venture. It is most definitely not a sales call.
Two groups find it especially challenging to conduct effective interviews. Salespeople want the session to lead to a sale or, at least, a qualified prospect. That prevents learning from listening to needs and problems. Technologists want to talk about their code or design or other technical attributes. That misdirects the conversation away from customer problems and opportunities.
Here is how you can ensure maximum learning from your interactions: Your starting point is your hypothesis about who might be the customer for your product or service. Initial interviews should validate or reject that hypothesis and reveal new possibilities