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I have a system for this. You have two problems, not one. You need to get useful feedback out of 100pct of people, and you might need more people. To get usef
by bbulkow 6y ago
I have a system for this.
You have two problems, not one. You need to get useful feedback out of 100pct of people, and you might need more people.
To get useful feedback, distill your potential value proposition to one sentence. If you have multiple ways of saying it, make a couple. But one sentence only and write it down.
When you have someone from the correct category (target market) on the phone, yes, you need a phone or video call, emit the potential value proposition sentence exactly as you have written it, not a word different.
Do not do any extra run up other than hi, how much time do you have, pleased to meet you...
Then, shut up. This is called 'the golden silence' in sales. and write down exactly the first thing they say.
The first thing they say is the truth, and you need to listen to it.
after that, you can try to dive in, and they might say they didn't understand at first, but the reality is people like to please people, and all that subsequent talk is secondary. The first reaction is what you bank on.
When you are going to market, you will put ad money, web site visits, whatever, into a single sentence, and it must resonate. Period. And it must resonate with your target market - you did remember to define your target market and potentially do a value proposition for each. There are a lot of target markets who don't buy the product (investors, influencers), but usually you do that only after you believe you have a thesis and resonating message.
- fny 6y ago> people like to please people Related, if you can distance yourself from the product. Don't be the founder, owner, creator. Act like some other third party who is getting feedback. People often mask criticism, and rarely do people tell someone that their baby is ugly. ;)
- arnonejoe 6y agoThe book 'The Mom Test' is all about this.
- mud_dauber 6y agoSeconded.
- anonseeker 6y agoThis is a great comment but it assumes the poster has answered their posted question of "Where do you find potential customers?"
- ddingus 6y agoOnce they have their value statement, it boils down to researching where it fits, researching potential prospects, then applying what the comment says. The research, coupled with networking should identify types of prospects and how they do business. From there, asking ones self whether the value can make sense should filter out gross misalignment, but not always! Really understanding how organizations make their money is needed to target. Networking, shopping the value prop around should spark interest and potential research targets.
- ddingus 6y agoThis is very high value. Nicely refined down to the core. My experience with less sharp, more verbose variations on this show that results are colored by how they like you and that diminishes the clarity of the value information.
- luxuryballs 6y agoThis reminds me of a book I read recently called “New Sales. Simplified.” by Mike Weinberg, in terms of engaging with people on their terms and the “sales story”, highly recommended, and he narrates it himself on Audible. Very approachable for non-sales people but also refreshingly “back to basics” for those with sales exposure especially if wanting to focus on new sales acquisitions rather than just repeat customers.