There are many reason it can be difficult to get prospects interested in conversations, much less your product. Here are a few along with a suggested sequence of steps to determine their needs.
Q: I Cannot Get Prospects Interested in Conversations
Entrepreneur: I’m a software developer looking to create a product focused on helping SMBs with a problem I am sure that many face. I made the mistake in the past of building first before I talked to customers so I have been trying to interview business owners to make sure the product I am contemplating will meet their needs. I have posted on several forums for small business owners, done cold outreach on LinkedIn, and paid for lists of small business owners that I sent postcards and a few letters. No response. It feels like I’m in the middle of an ocean full of fish but cannot find the right bait. Any advice?
Sean: I have a few questions just to get some context:
- What’s the origin story for this product?
- What firms have you helped with this problem?
- What was the impact on their business?
- How did the firms you helped describe what you did for them?
Entrepreneur: There are several enterprise-grade solutions that address this problem. Small businesses don’t have the tech staff to set them up and manage them. I know that small businesses face this problem, but I cannot get them to talk about it. I am learning as I go, so any help is appreciated. I know that “small business” is a large market, and would like to start in a smaller niche. What’s frustrating is that the technical aspects will be easy for me as I have worked on other data-intensive applications. I want to make sure I am developing a product businesses will pay for.
Sean: Some more questions to consider:
- How do your target customers solve this problem today?
- What are alternatives are available to them that you are competing against?
- What symptoms can you probe for in case they have not yet articulated their needs?
Entrepreneur: All of your questions are ones I have as well. To answer them, I’d like to interview owners and managers of small businesses. I am trying to conduct customer interviews, but I am having trouble getting them to respond and agree to an interview.
How do I reach my target customers and encourage them to speak with me about their problems, pain points, and current processes?
Sean: In my experience, if your challenge is to get prospects interested in a conversation with you, it’s a very strong signal for one or more of these disconnects.
- You are not describing a problem, need, or challenge that is important to them. It may be a problem they know they have but they don’t view it as important when compared to others.
- Your description does not match how they experience the problem. Start from symptoms–which is what they experience–and not your diagnosis or your solution.
- You have not offered any independent substantiation of your capabilities or results achieved. They don’t have any reason to believe you can help them.
I am very concerned that you have not helped any small businesses with this problem before trying to build software to address it. I think it’s likely that one or more of these disconnects is holding you back. Successful startups normally follow these steps:
- Develop content that helps prospects understand and deal with the problem.
- Offer a service–perhaps where you use an early version of your product–to provide at least partial relief.
- Offer a partial solution that works from the information they have or integrates with existing tools in their infrastructure.
- Offer a stand-alone product.
I worry you are describing solutions and trying to offer a stand-alone product without laying the necessary groundwork in steps 1 through 3. Here are some blog posts you may find helpful