Any advice on how to talk to potential customers in the beginning say even before writing the code? Do you cold email/cold call? How do you start to talk about their problems?
We've been reaching potential customers on LinkedIn, asking them for 15 mins to give feedback on our 'product idea' (at this point is just a sales deck).
Some tactical advice is to include in the connection request message:
1) a little explainer about the problem space that you're looking to tackle
2) the fact that you're an engineer (that why they'll know this isn't a sale call)
Normally we do about 5 mins talking about their business, problems and context then dive into a slide deck that pitches our idea.
At the end of the 'pitch' we get feedback from the customer. We also explain that we're launching a pilot, and give them an opportunity to join the pilot.
The pilot is paid (but cheaper than the public pricing will be), and it involves signing a v.simple 1 page contract/agreement which allows us to invoice them ahead of the 'launch'.
For us, this has been incredibly effective at:
- Understanding if this product hits a pain-point that customers are actually willing to spend budget on
- Weeding out the 'weak' signals like 'I quite like it' (people who 'like' it but may never buy)
- Giving us financial/commercial confidence, since we have invoiceable revenue guaranteed
Sometimes, when you find somebody that really gets it, their body language and attitude is entirely different....they literally PULL the product from your hands (vs. you pushing it on them). They're asking questions like "when can we launch/try it", and "can I introduce you to X Y Z people, who are going to love this?". And they say things like "We're budget constrained, but there are tons of things I'd rather get rid of, to make budget for this"....that's the feeling we're looking for, that tells us we're thinking about the right problem in the right way.
This is really actionable, incredible advice. Thanks for breaking down to pieces. This is so much better than the startup books that get too winded and never explain the exact steps to actually talk to customers. I am toying an idea for about 6 months and I think that while there are products in the market that do what I am thinking, I can position myself better. It's targeted towards lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, etc. Do you think LinkedIn is a good channel to reach them? Do you also use LinkedIn premium? Have you tried cold emails? Sorry to bombard you with so many questions. Do you have a way to reach you besides HN? If you are fine with it of course.
Thank you for those kind words - I'm really glad it was helpful advice.
> It's targeted towards lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, etc. Do you think LinkedIn is a good channel to reach them?
For lawyers and accounts - yes - LinkedIn should be pretty great.
For Real Estate you may want to try your luck at walking around estate agents at quiet periods in the day. Some may be kind enough to hear you out and what you'll learn from f2f will be even more impactful.
> Do you also use LinkedIn premium?
I actually use Sales Navigator - it's $80/month, but by no means is it necessary - I wouldn't use the lack of Premium/Sales Nav as a reason not to start the process.
> Have you tried cold emails?
Yes - we sent a bunch using Instantly but got such a crappy response that we stopped. Cold email is dead, IMO.
> Sorry to bombard you with so many questions. Do you have a way to reach you besides HN?
No problem - very happy to help! I don't really do twitter or anything, but happy to chat here as much as you like. Does HN have DM? (sorry, new here)
