Getting the Most Out of Customer Interactions

Gathering accurate, insightful, and actionable information about customers and the market is Job #1 for the product management team. Market research and analyst reports are useful in assembling this information, but they pale in comparison to the value from regular and consistent direct customer interaction.

All PM’s know this, but many still spent very little time in advance planning and thought in this important area. By just letting these customer interactions “happen” without some basic prep, you’re guaranteeing poor results and wasted opportunities.

Here are some tips on getting the most out of customer interactions:

• Broaden the universe. Typically, you’ll be introduced to customers through your sales team, which means that you’ll be talking only to those who are already interested in your product. Also, the sales team is motivated to close deals, so you’ll be put into a position of selling rather than listening. This is fine, but it shouldn’t be your only source of customer interactions. Through a variety of sources (e.g. Google searches, networking), you can find many others to talk to – potentially some who aren’t even interested in your product. These interactions are very valuable, as you’ll be building a much richer view of the entire market and also clarifying your own products’ “sweet spot” (i.e. what separates likely buyers from others).
• Enter meetings with hypotheses and test them. The essence of product strategy is making trade-offs based on scarcity of resources. These trade-offs are informed by views on the market. What are the core beliefs and views on the market which are at the heart of your product strategy? You should be testing these in every customer meeting.
• Turn qualitative into quantitative. Instead of reporting that traffic is growing, ask how much it is currently, and by what % is growing. With numbers rather than qualitative assertions, you’ll have a much better understanding of the customers’ environment, and will be a lot more effective in conveying this information across your organization.
• Go deep. Instead of the 30 minute interaction over the phone, aim for the 2-3 hour meetings where you can really understand the customer’s issues and environment. If they’re currently using your product, try to see how they actually work with it on a day-to-day basis. If you can get a tour of the facility, go for it.  You’ll get a better feeling for the environment and other products the customer uses.
• Schedule meetings late in the day. So, how do you get a 2-3 hour meeting with a busy IT professional? Schedule the meeting for the late afternoon/early evening. Meet at 5pm and then suggest that you go out to dinner. You’ll have 3+ hours with a customer plus you’ll build a relationship.
• Use a questionnaire. All questions won’t be appropriate for all customers, but questionnaires can be helpful in making sure that you’ve covered all the bases.
• Record everything – on the computer. Most likely, you can type faster than you can write and electronic documents are easier to share. You can then print out the notes and put them in a binder. This is very useful when you want to quickly refer back to customer notes.
• Lastly, share broadly. Don’t keep the knowledge confined to the product management team. Regularly (maybe quarterly) share the key insights/headlines with the engineering and marketing teams, and perhaps with the entire organization. It’s a great way to get everyone on the same page about the market and your company’s opportunity.

-Raj

Comments

[Frank]

Hi Raj,

Broadening my universe has been one of the key challenges I've faced. I work closely with sales & our (limited) customer base already to "deep dive" on the issues you mentioned.

Can you offer your thoughts about good networking tools / organizations that you use? (LinkedIn, SVPMA, etc.?) I'm in the silicon valley & work in the (computer) networking industry. Trade shows (unfortunately) make folks sales averse, so establishing contacts is difficult since they think I'm planning to "sell AT them". Do you advise hitting developer's groups, hitting online IT news groups, etc?

Thanks, Frank

[Raj Kanaya]

Frank, I haven't had great success with trade shows, user groups, or other networking functions. It's hard to find the people that you really want to talk to -- i.e. the knowledgeable "experts" who can provide the useful nuggets of info. The best means that I've found is the "cold e-mail." It's like a cold call but less intrusive. IT professionals vastly prefer it over talking on the phone. Find the people that you want to talk to by scouring competitor press releases or those from adjacent industry players. You can also find names through trade pubs. Then, you'll need to guess the e-mail address. This isn't hard to do. You can see how their company e-mail addresses are formed by finding some e-mail addresses that are publicly available. Then send them a note. Keep it brief, make it clear that you're not selling anything, mention where you read about them (they'll feel good about it), and ask for very little time (15-20 min). Realistically, if you get them on the phone, they'll talk for longer. If it goes well, you can set-up a F2F meeting.

Good luck.

Raj