Do I have to talk to customers?
Hi,
I know that I should talk to potential customers before working on a product to see if they even want it or not, but I'm building something that already exists.
Do I still have to talk to customers about it?
Hi,
I know that I should talk to potential customers before working on a product to see if they even want it or not, but I'm building something that already exists.
Do I still have to talk to customers about it?
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
As others have mentioned, the safe default answer is "you probably should".
But in all honesty I think it really depends on what your goals are. And on what you are building.
If your main goal is to make your first end-to-end working product, and this project is a side project to gain some valuable learning experience. If your time (and motivation) are limited and you are working nights and weekends, I would argue that optimizing for whatever keeps your progressing should be your main goal. In that case talking to customers could kill your momentum and contribute to never actually completing the project.
If you have already completed some products and you are ready to build a financially successful product, then I highly recommend talking to customers as early as possible. Depending on what you are building that could mean just running your product idea by potential users, or even better - asking target customers about the pain points you hope to help alleviate (a la The Mom Test). For some products it might make sense to build a simple prototype and gain feedback that way.
Here's a specific example:
A small product idea I have is to build a simple boxing round timer mobile app that people can use when they train for combat sports.
My approach for "talking to customers" before building this simple product is:
Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for explaining your thoughts.
I think I'm closer to the first situation you described. It's a side project that I'm doing on weekends and nights but I was hoping to be profitable and make a few extra bucks as well.
Maybe I need to rethink the "What" and "Why" am I doing this.
Thanks again!
YESSS!!!!! There is no good product without users who believe in it! There is no good design or user experience without user research!
Even though your idea already exists, there's most likely a gap in its current state or else why would you be pursuing it. Talking to potential customers helps you build more information to existing pain points and truly understand the value your solution can bring.
Uhum, the gap is something I should probably focus on!
Why would anyone use you over the things that already exist?
The answer to that question lies in talking to customers.
As a product manager by trade, I fully rely on customer feedback and insights to make decisions. Ultimately no one cares about you or what you made, they care about what it does for them and whether it is better than anything already out there. If it is, they'll use it. If not, they'll go with something else.
Do you need to talk to customers to build something? No. Do you need to talk to customers to build something that gets used and beats out the competition? Yes, 100%.
Ultimately, it depends on your goals for the product though.
Thanks for elaborating on why should I do it. It gave me a clearer sense of what should I do.
You really should.
We are often biased when we think about our users- we assume they are in similar situations to ours, which can lead us down false paths. By talking to your users, you ensure that your product will meet their needs.
What is the best way, then to engage with existing customers? Is email enough, or a simple survey?
Getting on the phone all the time is usually unproductive for myself and clients. But I agree, there's value in checking in with them to make sure the deliverables are on point.
Hi Seth, sorry for the late response!
There are many ways to engage with existing customers, and all of them have pros and cons. As you mantioned, talking to customers all the time is quite time consuming, but can lead to rich insights if done right. On the other hand, while email communication and surveys can yield many responses, the insights you generate tend to be less detailed.
Generally, it is best to have a mix of qualitative data ( e.g. one on one zoom interviews, phone talks, case studies...) and quantitative data ( surveys, web analytics )
A basic plan you could follow - start with a short survey. Ask broad questions in order to get a general understanding of what's happening. Then, if something doesn't align with your expectations ( e.g. customers respond that they are unhappy with the service ), conduct one on one user interviews to get a deeper understanding of the situation.
Though do keep in mind, there isn't a one size fits all solution. There are many variables that come into play, such as how many customers you have, company size, startup maturity level.
Yeah, you're right! thank you.
You don't have to, but you definitely should. Better yet, talk with customers of your competitor. See what they like about it, what they don't like and see how you can improve on that. Do something better than your competitors. You will stand out.
As for how to find them, look on reddit. There might be a sub about that specific product.
Say something like hey, are you using that tool? I'd like to discuss with you or anything along those lines.
And speaking to them over the phone/zoom or whatever is going to be more beneficial than in an e-mail. You will cover more ground.
Also, your competitor won't be able to swoop in, take that feedback and implement those improvements before you deliver your product (unless it's a DM, then you should be ok, but still, discussion trumps e-mails).
Hmmm, Thank you for your advice.