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To set the meeting framing and agenda, I basically repeat what I said in the email and then immediately drop into the first question.
you can only pull this off if you have prepared your list of 3 big learning goals and have an idea of some possible next steps and commitments that you can ask for if the meeting goes well.
The goal with this the VFWPA structure is to specify exactly what I need and how they, in particular can help.
you should keep talking to people until you stop hearing new information.
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.
Rule of thumb: Keep having conversations until you stop hearing new stuff.
Some people were talking about paying us $10,000/month while others scoffed at the idea of paying $10.
making an incredible product for one.
We ignored everyone who wasn’t them, cut a bunch of features and were finally able to get a sense of what was working and what wasn’t.
These guys weren’t having 20 conversations with their customers. They were having one conversation each with 20 different types of customers.
Rule of thumb: If you aren’t finding consistent problems and goals, you don’t have a specific enough customer segment.
Start with a broad segment and ask:
Within this group, which type of person would want it most? Would everyone within this group buy/use it, or only some? Why does that sub-set want it? (e.g. what is their specific problem) Does everyone in the group have that motivation or only some? What additional motivations are there? Which other types of people have these motivations?
Profitable or big Easy to reach Personally rewarding
three big criteria of being reachable, profitable, and personally rewarding.
it’s worth choosing customers you admire and enjoy being around.
Spend up to an hour writing down your best guesses about what the person you’re about to talk to cares about and wants.
in-person conversations to find insights the internet can’t give
If you leave part of the company out of the prep, then you end up missing their concerns in the customer conversations.
The minimum prep is to ask a grumpy cofounder to “humour me” and then spend ten minutes picking the right learning goals for the upcoming conversations.
A little prep goes a long way, but you do need a little. All you’re really trying to figure out is: What do we want to learn from these guys?
Rule of thumb: If you don’t know what you’re trying to learn, you shouldn’t bother having the conversation.
As the second person, you may notice the lead asking bad questions or missing a signal they should be digging into. Just jump in and fix them.
carry around blank cards and take notes on them, with one quote or learning per card (along with a signal icon, of course).
Rule of thumb: Notes are useless if you don’t look at them.
Talking to customers is a tool, not an obligation.
You weren’t scared of any of the questions you asked You aren’t sure what you’re trying to learn in this conversation
If you haven’t yet, choose a focused, findable segment With your team, decide your big 3 learning goals If relevant, decide on ideal next steps and commitments If conversations are the right tool, figure out who to talk to Create a series of best guesses about what the person cares about If a question could be answered via desk research, do that first
Decide on the next 3 big questions
Don’t spend a week prepping for meetings; spend an hour and then go talk to people. Anything more is stalling.
Don’t spend months doing full-time customer conversations before beginning to move on a product. Spend a week, maybe two. Get your bearings and then give them something to commit to.
You’ll keep talking to customers for the life of your c...
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decide your big 3 learning goals
