Tools to source and interview potential customers and narrowing down their problems?
I'd like to know if others here also run into the following problems, and whether tools already exist to help solve them:
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I'm having to do a lot of cold-calling/emailing/LinkedIn messaging to arrange interviews with personas (potential customers) so I can understand what problems they run into that I could potentially solve. Understandably, only a few agree to talk. Are there existing tools out there that you use to improve upon this process?
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Once I interview a persona, I often have to return to them later with follow-up questions. At that point, its hard to get more responses, as they've already moved on with their busy lives. How do you incentivize your potential customers so they continue engaging in a dialogue with you long term as you narrow down on problems and offer solutions?
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Are there any tools you use to maintain your group of personas and your discussions with them, like a customer advisory board, where you can post various questions over long periods and develop your insight into the space you're building for?
This is something I have a lot of experience with, but I have a few quick questions for you if you don't mind.
Any additional detail you could provide would be super helpful!
Thanks for the reply Andrew!
“ Hello, my name is [upwork helper], and I’m working with my client Ali. He is interested in building solutions for the [industry name] industry and would like to talk with some experienced professionals like you to validate his ideas. Ali has a background in engineering and product design and would like to understand your job responsibilities as an [industry] professional, the day-to-day problems, and where there are opportunities for better solutions. Could we arrange a phone call interview this week?”
In the follow-up, I am referencing things they mentioned during the first interview, and then asking them if they’d be willing to jump on a call to discuss those things further.
By tool, I’m actually referring to a software that would help me manage a customer advisory board to gather feedback and validate ideas on an ongoing basis. To be frank, I’m thinking that if such a service doesn’t exist, I should ask the question of whether I should invest into building it and whether others will find it useful?
Thanks for sharing! There’s a lot to dive into here, and I’d be happy to share my thoughts. Would you prefer to see my thoughts in the thread here or on a shared Google doc so we can collaborate? I’m happy to do either, though I’d make the document viewable by all so other Indie Hackers can follow along.
We can collaborate in a google doc. I'm guessing that'll be better for what you have in mind.
Cool, works for me. Can you send me an email to [email protected] with the email address you want to use to collaborate?
I know people have used this service for the purpose you described, have you looked at it or heard of it?
https://ethn.io/