Customer Development: How to Find Customers to Interview = 14 Best Ways

How to Find Customers to InterviewMike Fishbein, www.mfishbein.com

Why

You might have the best new product idea in the world, but until you find customers, it’s not actually a business.

If you can’t find customers before you have a product, what will you do when you have a product?

WhoWho is most strongly affected by the problem you’re solving?

Who would absolutely LOVE this product/service?

Create a profile

Name someone specifically

How

Go where they go, online and offline

Most not scalable, sustainable, profitable

Test your riskiest assumption first

LinkedIn Groups

Roles, industries, interests, etc.

People you know “Hi [their name],

Hope all is well! I'm looking for feedback on a potential product to help with [problem or process]. Given your experience, it would be great to get your feedback.

I don't have a product to sell (yet)...I’m just trying to determine if it's a problem worth solving in the first place.

Could I buy you a coffee next week to ask you a few questions and get your feedback?

Thanks,

[your name]”

ReferralsYour network

People you’ve interviewed

“Do you know anyone else who might have this problem that you would feel comfortable introducing me to so I could conduct a similar interview?”

Find people on Facebook or Linkedin and asked shared connections

Cold Outreach

Get specificFind their contact information“Hi [their name],

I’m Mike [link to page with my bio]. I'm looking for feedback on a potential product to help with [problem or process]. I came across your LinkedIn profile and it looks like you have a lot of experience with [problem or process], so I was hoping to get your feedback.

I don't have a product to sell (yet)...I’m just trying to determine if it's a problem worth solving in the first place.

Could I ask you a few questions and get your feedback over a fifteen minute phone call?

Thanks,

[your name]”

Meetup.com

Go to eventsReach out to organizersPost on message board

Conferences and Events

Especially if enterprise

Craigslist

Respond to postsCreate posts

Twitter

Hashtags, phrases

Facebook

Search

Groups

Ads

Blog

Create relevant and valuable content

Can be sustainable customer acquisition

Can be your MVP

Offline Paper Handouts

Coffee shops, gyms, streets, etc

Kickstarter

Large user base

Validation and $

Hit the streets

Neighborhoods

Stores

Events

Quora

Reviews

Relevant questionsReach out

To Learn More About Cust Dev...

Video CourseUdemy (http://bit.ly/1bQW22W)

My Book Amazon (http://amzn.to/1cusVFt)

Questions?www.twitter.com/mfishbein

Good luck validating!