Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a mindset that is essential in customer discovery. It encourages you to look for what’s working in an potential customer’s organization and “work with the grain of the wood.” It enables you to build on demonstrated strengths and accomplishments in framing your solution to a critical business problem.
Appreciative Inquiry Mindset Essential to Customer Discovery Read More »
Always assume you are targeting busy prospects for you customer development conversations.
Customer Development Conversations With Busy Prospects Read More »
It’s the Picture on the Box that Sells the LEGO Set: provide specific examples of how your product can be used to solve problems.
It’s the Picture on the Box that Sells the LEGO Set Read More »
Selling to a businesses requires conversations that build trust. Trust is built over time from predictability and meeting commitments.
Selling to a Business Requires Conversations that Build Trust Read More »
If you are an entrepreneur then sales is always a part of your responsibility. Here are some tips for cutting your teeth in sales.
Cutting Your Teeth in Sales Read More »
Successful general purpose toolkits evolve from successful simple point tools. Focus, start small, and evolve into a broad platform.
The Risk of General Purpose Toolkits as a First Product Read More »
Len Sklar, author “The Check is NOT in the Mail” has spoken several times at Bootstrapper Breakfasts. Here is a recent talk he gave where he stresses the importance of putting payment terms and the consequences on non-payment in writing, communicating them in advance, and ensuring that they are understood. It all seems so obvious
Len Sklar: Be Clear About Payment Terms And Consequences Read More »
Pay attention to self-description: the story you tell yourself and about yourself. Cultivate productive habits that don’t require conscious decisions. “It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise
Narrative Rationality: Be Mindful Of Your Self-Description Read More »
When I started out at Cisco in 1990 it was a part of the culture that a request for help or question that was too vague or poorly specified would be answered with “How long is a piece of string?”
How Long is a Piece of String Read More »
Learning to explore is a key skill for entrepreneurs. Ask questions you don’t know the answer to–where the answer would have an impact on your ability to assess the risk in your venture or would help you to define a key aspect of your business.
Buying a Map vs. Learning to Explore Read More »
Want a simple way to determine your competition during customer discovery: consider what your prospects would have to give up to buy and use your product or service. The time and money you want prospects to spend on your offering have to come from somewhere: prospects will normally choose to take it from what they
How To Determine Your Competition During Customer Discovery Read More »
Startups see fluid opportunities in dynamic environments, but no certainties before opportunities pass or the “situation changes.”
Early Markets Offer Fluid Opportunities Read More »
Users are important but are not necessarily customers, business serve customers at a profit, businesses that don’t make a profit are hobbies.
Users, Businesses, and Hobbies Read More »
Tips for using a wiki to organize customer interviews for customer discovery and to assess perspectives on their offering after purchase.
We Use a Wiki to Organize Customer Interviews Read More »
Failure To Thrive: “We need another two weeks to add this one last feature.” This mindset of hesitation kills more products than any competitor.
This webinar is for SaaS firms faced with an “enterprise sales” challenge by virtue of their minimum price point or number of job boundaries, business processes, or contractual relationships that have to change to create value. The focus is on early revenue. Here is the video from my February 24 webinar with DreamSimplicity on “Early Sales
Video: Early Revenue For Enterprise Web Apps Read More »
A guest post by Edith Harbaugh that offers a number of practical tips and suggestions for managing email conversations with customers.
Managing Email Conversations With Customers Read More »
Always prepare an answer for when a prospect asks you “How do we get started?” Do this before you hear it the first time so you are ready.
Prepare and Rehearse Your Answer to “How Do We Get Started?” Read More »
Mark Duncan and I collaborated on a four page article “An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Sales” that has been added to the Chicago MBA Coursepack
Our “Entrepreneur’s Guide To Sales” Added To Chicago MBA Coursepack Read More »
Here is another excerpt from my September interview with Gabriel Weinberg. This one focuses on why payment and testimonials are so important to differentiate users from actual customers.
If Money Doesn’t Change Hands, You Can’t Call a User a Customer Read More »
