market development

Build Your Market… One Customer At A Time

I was a little futuristic back in 1990:  I started O’Donnell Learn because I was convinced that technology would change education and that customers (including students, teachers and administrators) had to be front and center during this change. Well…I have had more than 20 years to perfect the practice of market development–working with customers to shape a solution AND build a cadre of loyal early adopters.

It’s a lot of fun.  You build panels of users who provide insights and feedback as you develop and launch a product or offering.  As a result, you end up with a solution to real, specific market needs and problems.   You create messaging that resonates.  AND you avoid costly mistakes.

Here are a few tips for you as you create the next generation of innovation…

  1. Get feedback on your concept before you build the product.  Make sure you get feedback from at least 20 potential customers right from the get go.  You will save yourself a lot of time and money!!  We use interviews to get in-depth feedback and focus groups  for brainstorming (virtual are less expensive).
  2. Listen don’t talk.  It’s really better for you to get someone else to ask the questions for you.  Most entrepreneurs can’t resist trying to sell when you really need to listen hard and tease out your customers’ objections.
  3. Don’t get discouraged.  The more innovative your offering, the more confusion and push back you can expect.  Teachers particularly are skeptical about change.  We have launched dozens of successful products.  The real game changers require more than one conversation. In the first one, your customer reacts to the idea:  what is exciting, and what are the red flags or obstacles.  Then, in a second conversation, you can get feedback on the actual product.  This two-step process yields a very high rate of customers!!
  4. Use the right tools.  Most people automatically turn to a survey.  Surveys are important—they help you figure out what to focus on first and how to spend your resources.  But, they are step two.  You have to start with qualitative research (interviews or focus groups).  By probing and listening, you shift your focus from what you think is important to what is important to your customer.
  5. Get your customers to shape your message. A few years back, we saved a customer a lot of $$.  They were praising their modular product—and this word had negative connotations for most customers.  By touting a flexible design rather than modular, they turned negativity into excitement!

Market development doesn’t have to cost a lot of money—but it requires some time investment.  You want to be sure that you recruit the right customers into your panel—decision makers at target accounts, not just any person who wants to talk!  Relying too heavily on social networking groups/sites tends to get you a panel full of talkers that aren’t necessarily decision-makers.

Think about your target audience and do some research to gather contact information.  Typically, you will need to reach out to about 10 target customers for every qualified panel participant. But, I guarantee that if you do it systematically, market development will save you from making costly mistakes and it will yield your first pipeline of customers.

It’s Not What You Know. It’s Who You Know.

connecting[1]Isn’t that the truth! A few months ago, I met with a friend who is a very successful entrepreneur and asked him for advice about launching my new business. He responded that you already have everything you need to launch your new venture: expertise, passion, and most importantly, your network.

My new company isn’t going to look anything like yesterday’s companies. Business development will likely be more important than human resources. And I spend a lot of time meeting with really smart people who can help me figure out the future. I would bet that everyone you need to know to build a successful startup is within 3 degrees from you on LinkedIn or FB.

“Who you know” is a two-way street. I can’t stress this enough. I also spend a fair amount of time helping other people build the network. This is critical. And, you can’t believe what you learn by giving advice or connections to someone in need. By so doing, you have also earned the right to reach out and ask others for help.

A few tips for increasing “who you know”:

  • Get involved in some organization or association related to your start up. Begin giving back now!
  • Online networks are a treasure trove. If you “meet” someone who could help you with your startup, contact them. There is no online equivalent for a live conversation—face to face is ideal, but virtual is great too.
  • Conferences are expensive, but dollar for dollar, and if you use the opportunity to network, you get the best value for your investment.
  • Connect with people who are in between jobs, especially those who are pretty high up the food chain. They have time, and a little more perspective than people in very busy jobs, so they often have great ideas and advice and connections for you.

If you want a primer on building your network, check out the book: The Connect Effect, by Michael Dulworth, who is an expert on building personal, professional and virtual networks.

Charting A Path Through The Desert

DesertA few months ago, I transitioned away from running my first company, O’Donnell Learn.  That first Monday morning, I went into the office, sat down and thought, “now what?”

Starting a business is like charting a path through the desert.  There is nobody but you to figure out how to spend your time.  And, you have to be very disciplined about your time.   You have to plug along and put all those pieces in place so that you have a business (with customers) when you cross that desert.

Here are the primary ways that I spend my time these days:

  • Networking—meeting with      people who can help me get this off the ground, and helping others get      their initiatives off the ground.
  • Researching the market to      understand the problems and pain points, the need, and how my company can      uniquely fill that need. This involves hours of reading, and also speaking      to customers, experts and potential partners.
  • Planning the offering or      product.  This is a staged activity,      called market development.  Work with      customers every step of the way to shape your offering.  Right now, we are creating a two-minute video      that demonstrates our offering, which we will take to customers for      feedback in prep for creating our detailed product requirements.
  • Putting together my      advisory board and founding team—finding the perfect people for it and then      recruiting them to join me.
  • Articulating the vision      and message—then trying it out on others and then rearticulating it.  This takes a long time for every      business and new offering.  Getting      it right is essential!
  • Developing the business      plan and pitch for investors.

Wow.  That is a lot to get done!  And, I need to be very disciplined so that I am not scattered all over the place.  Here is a video I found that gives three great tips for time management.