The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you

by Rob Fitzpatrick

The world is a relatively small place. Everyone knows someone. We just have to remember to ask.

I was talking to a team of recent graduates who needed to reach McKinsey style consultants. They were pulling their hair out. We were in a co-working space full of other young entrepreneurs, so I just stood on a chair and yelled, “Excuse me, does anyone here know anyone who works at McKinsey? Can we talk to you for a second? We’ll buy you a beer!” The founders bought three beers, had three quick chats, and left with a diary of intros.

Rule of thumb: Kevin Bacon’s 7 degrees of separation applies to customer conversations. You can find anyone you need if you ask for it a couple times.

Top-tier investors are awesome for B2B intros. Beyond their own rolodex and company portfolio, they can usually pull off cold intros to practically any industry. Investors can also help you close better advisors and directors than you’d be able to wrangle on your own.

You’ll get ignored a lot, but again, who cares? You aren’t trying to minimise your failure rate; you’re trying to get a few conversations going. The people you’re being introduced to won’t know the backstory anyway, so it’s a clean start from there.

The framing format I like has five key elements. You’re an entrepreneur trying to solve horrible problem X, usher in wonderful vision Y, or fix stagnant industry Z. Don’t mention your idea. Frame expectations by mentioning what stage you’re at and, if it’s true, that you don’t have anything to sell. Show weakness and give them a chance to help by mentioning the specific problem that you’re looking for answers on. This will also clarify that you’re not a time waster. Put them on a pedestal by showing how much they, in particular, can help. Explicitly ask for help.

Hey Pete, I'm trying to make desk & office rental less of a pain for new businesses (vision). We’re just starting out and don’t have anything to sell, but want to make sure we’re building something that actually helps (framing). I’ve only ever come at it from the tenant’s side and I’m having a hard time understanding how it all works from the landlord’s perspective (weakness). You’ve been renting out desks for a while and could really help me cut through the fog (pedestal). Do you have time in the next couple weeks to meet up for a chat?

Hey Scott, I run a startup trying to make advertising more playful and ultimately effective (vision). We're having a load of trouble figuring out how all the pieces of the industry fit together and where we can best fit into it (weakness). You know more about this industry than anyone and could really save us from a ton of mistakes (pedestal). We’re funded and have a couple products out already, but this is in no way a sales meeting -- we’re just moving into a new area and could really use some of your expertise (framing). Can you spare a bit of time in the next week to help point us in the right direction over a coffee? (ask)

Cold approaches are a different beast and I haven’t found a magic bullet or reliable cold email format. But remember, the point of cold calls is to stop having them. If you’re banging your head against the wall trying to get people to answer your cold emails, then you’re probably taking the hard road. Spend your energy finding clever ways to generate warm intros instead. You’ll have a much easier time.

In terms of mindset, don’t go into these discussions looking for customers. It creates a needy vibe and forfeits the position of power. Instead, go in search of industry and customer advisors. You are just trying to find helpful, knowledgable people who are excited about your idea.

instead of it being a customer-learning-but-I-really-want-to-do-sales meeting, it becomes a let-me-find-out-if-you-are-a-good-advisor-by-asking-questions meeting.

Willpower is a finite resource. The way to overcome difficult situations isn’t to power through, but rather to change your circumstances to require less willpower. Changing the context of the meeting to “looking for advisors” is the equivalent of throwing out all your chocolate when you start a diet. You change the environment to naturally facilitate your goals.

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The UX community (who knows their customer conversation!) says you should keep talking to people until you stop hearing new information.

It’s not about “how many” meetings. It’s about having enough for you to really understand your customers. You want to talk to them enough that know them in the same way you know your close friends, with a firm grip on their goals, their frustrations, what else they’ve tried, and how they currently deal with it.

This isn’t about having a thousand meetings. It’s about quickly learning what you need, and then getting back to building your business.

The overall process of learning is never finished, but in most cases you should be able to answer almost any individual question about your business or your customers (and then move onto new ones) within a week.

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Rule of thumb: Keep having conversations until you stop hearing new stuff.

They say that startups don’t starve, they drown. You never have too few options, too few leads, or too few ideas; you have too many.

When it comes to getting above water and making faster progress, good customer segmentation is your best friend.

You get overwhelmed by options and don’t know where to start You aren’t moving forward but can’t prove yourself wrong You receive mixed feedback and can’t make sense of it