4 ms·

I'm working on a consumer product. Here's what I do. - Include an invite for a quick 10-15 minute chat in the welcome email (more people than you would think a

I'm working on a consumer product. Here's what I do. - Include an invite for a quick 10-15 minute chat in the welcome email (more people than you would think actually take up the offer) - Ask them why they signed up (this is key to help you determine what problem people want you to solve) - Ask them their biggest frustrations about the solution so far And just take it from there.

ayuvar 10y ago
How do you prioritize which 'frustrations' to work on? Processing existing customer feedback has always been a problem even at large, established places I've worked for - chasing the new customer and adding features is always sexier than a general feeling of unease that requires a lot of prying to get to the root of. Often in my experience most customers don't seem to know what the exact problem is, or can't put it into words, so having strategies to tease that out would also be appreciated.
- cubecul 10y ago
  My experience is a little different (mgmt consulting) but the problem is largely the same. The one piece of advice I have for your last line is to ask the simple questions - "What do you mean by....", "Can you tell me more about...", "Can you walk me through..." are all very powerful. If you have nothing to go off of but a rough sense of which part of their day is causing them frustration, you can ask "I heard that (process X) is hard or frustrating. Can you walk me through how that works? Where does it start?" followed by very simple questions to keep them talking - they'll get as detailed as they can for someone who appears to be in a position to help.
  - tmaly 10y ago
    I have used a few of these statements. You could almost write a book on just this subject.
beamatronic 10y ago
Give them a $5 Starbucks card at the end as a thank-you.
- jaf656s 10y ago
  If you do this I recommend you don't mention the gift card until after the meeting. I might meet to chat for 10 minutes but if you told me you'd give me a $5 (or even $50) gift card in exchange for my time, I probably wouldn't.
- kbyatnal 10y ago
  I think it's unnecessary (and somewhat tacky)
- ddingus 10y ago
  I would prefer to make a standing offer for lunch or coffee and have a reason for it.

ayuvar 10y ago

How do you prioritize which 'frustrations' to work on? Processing existing customer feedback has always been a problem even at large, established places I've worked for - chasing the new customer and adding features is always sexier than a general feeling of unease that requires a lot of prying to get to the root of. Often in my experience most customers don't seem to know what the exact problem is, or can't put it into words, so having strategies to tease that out would also be appreciated.

cubecul 10y ago
My experience is a little different (mgmt consulting) but the problem is largely the same. The one piece of advice I have for your last line is to ask the simple questions - "What do you mean by....", "Can you tell me more about...", "Can you walk me through..." are all very powerful. If you have nothing to go off of but a rough sense of which part of their day is causing them frustration, you can ask "I heard that (process X) is hard or frustrating. Can you walk me through how that works? Where does it start?" followed by very simple questions to keep them talking - they'll get as detailed as they can for someone who appears to be in a position to help.
- tmaly 10y ago
  I have used a few of these statements. You could almost write a book on just this subject.

beamatronic 10y ago

Give them a $5 Starbucks card at the end as a thank-you.

jaf656s 10y ago
If you do this I recommend you don't mention the gift card until after the meeting. I might meet to chat for 10 minutes but if you told me you'd give me a $5 (or even $50) gift card in exchange for my time, I probably wouldn't.
kbyatnal 10y ago
I think it's unnecessary (and somewhat tacky)
ddingus 10y ago
I would prefer to make a standing offer for lunch or coffee and have a reason for it.