Erik Ralston
Co-Founder at Fuse Accelerator
Tri-Cities
LAUNCH UNIVERSITY
Week #1: Customer Validation
OVERVIEW
- Who is Your Customer?
- How Do You Find Them Early?
- How Do You Measure?
CUSTOMER VALIDATION
Measuring demand for a prospective product or service
WHO IS YOUR CUSTOMER?
PAY
TELL OTHERS
SOMEONE
IN
PAIN!
HOW DO I KNOW SOMEONE IS MY CUSTOMER?
DEMOGRAPHICS
Age
Gender
Region
etc
PSYCOGRAPHICS
EXERCISE
Write Down 3 "Personas"
For Your Customers
Name, Age, Gender
Job, Hobbies, Interests, Habits
VALIDATION
STRATEGIES
Ways to Start Measuring Now
GET OUT
OF THE
BUILDING!
WHY GET OUT OF THE BUILDING?
You Can Only Think Like YOU
When talking to customers you'll need to
"Explain It Like I'm 5"
Potential customers ask questions!
INTERVIEWS
1-on-1 Conversations to Build Qualitative Understanding of a Customer's Wants and Needs
Avoid Focus Groups!
EXERCISE
Write Down 10 QUESTIONS
to ask your customer
EXERCISE
Might Try...
5 Questions To Which Your Ideal Customer Would Say "Yes"
5 Questions To Challenge Your Assumptions About Them
QUESTIONS LIKE...
Do You Like To...
What Do You Do (Activities, Hobbies, Industry)...
What Would You Pay...
What Would Your Company Pay...
How Often Do You...
How Much Money Do You Spend...
How Much Time Do You Spend...
WHO SHOULD YOU TALK TO?
WHERE DO YOU FIND PEOPLE?
Places with Critical Friends
(Fuse, House of Worship, Job, etc)
Friends-of-Friends
Relationships through Social Media
EXERCISE
Write Down 10 NAMES
to Interview About Your Idea
EXERCISE
Go Ask Those People Your Ten Questions By Next Week!
HOW DO I REACH PEOPLE I DON'T KNOW?
THE INTERNET!
Social Media
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
Instagram, Pinterest, etc
Community Websites
Reddit, New Sites, Review Sites, etc
BUT HOW DO YOU MEASURE STRANGERS?
MAILING
LIST
SOCIAL MEDIA
Likes, Follows, Shares, and Comments are all Objective Measures of Interest
EXERCISE
Pre-Write a Facebook Page!
Name, Category, Description
What is Your Profile Picture?
What is Your Call to Action?
SURVEYS
A series of questions with measurable inputs
Likert Scale (1-5), Yes/No, Multiple Choice
Delivered Via Survey Monkey, Google Forms, etc
EXERCISE
Write Down 5 Questions
For Your Survey
The Survey Also Asks for E-Mail
(MAILING LIST!)
EXERCISE
Write Down 3 Places On the Web To Circulate The Survey
HOW DO I KNOW THEY ARE SERIOUS?
LETTER OF INTENT
A simple, non-binding document that indicates someone will buy your product/service
When it becomes available in the future
Excellent for a B2B Product or Service
If [person/entity]
provided [product/service]
by [month of release]
I would be interested in
paying [amount of money]
every [amount of time] (Optional)
EXERCISE
Write Down a Simple Letter of Intent Proposition in
One Page or Less
EXERCISE
If [person/entity]
provided [product/service]
by [month of release]
I would be interested in
paying [amount of money]
every [amount of time] (Optional)
STRATEGY RECAP
Interviews
Social Media
Surveys
Letters Of Intent
Q&A
THANK YOU!
Next Week: [Next Topic]
TC Launch University: Customer Validation 2016
By Erik Ralston
TC Launch University: Customer Validation 2016
Tri-Cities Launch University is your chance to take a crash course before you launch! This week deals with Customer Validation, using proof and not assumptions to move forward with your idea!
