Start-up Entrepreneurs' Blog

Warning Signs Your Start-Up’s Product May Suck

February 17, 2011

Admit it … you’ve wondered. Does your new product suck?

You’re heard the advice of many, go to the customer, go to investors, go to the influencers, get feedback on your new product. You’re calling and emailing and networking and contacting in every way you can think of.

And nothing. No one wants to talk with you about the new product or your start-up.

Or sometimes, a tickle of response. People say they like the product, but there’s no meat in their response. Is everyone just being nice so as not to hurt your feelings?

And you can’t help wondering …

Will this product be a success? Why aren’t things going better? It’s a great product. What’s wrong?

Customer development is one of the new job functions. We all done it before, but now there’s a new name associated with the task. It’s nirvana to get customers to honestly say what they think about your product idea and business model, but it’s a lot harder than it sounds. It’s the “customer” in the phase that makes it so hard because they are unpredictable and uncontrollable.

It’s not talking with the customer that’s difficult, it’s the getting the customer to agree to talk to you that’s the problem most of the time. Customers are people, they are busy, they focus on meeting their deadlines and completing their tasks at hand, and you are a distraction.

We’ve all sent our resumes around at some point in our careers. It’s painful when you get nothing but silence. If someone you sent your resume would just give you feedback, maybe you could fix it, but with no feedback, you’re just taking a stab in the dark at the problem. And if only 1 or 2 people give you feedback, is it really relevant? Do they represent what the majority of recipients think about your resume? It’s the same issue with your start-up and your first product.

So what are you to do?

You can contact lots of people by phone or email, and response rates are low. With a good list, you might get 25% to 30% response rate.  With a cold calling approach, you’re down as low as direct mail with less than 1% responses. Marketing professionals, who have always worked for large firms and go to an early stage start-up, are usually shocked at how their former contacts no longer want to speak with them and they don’t return phone calls anymore.

Go To Where You Customers Are and When They Want To Talk

You are trying to shoehorn into their busy work schedules and whatever they are currently involved in at work is a much higher priority. So don’t try and reach them at the office. Go to where they congregate to network because then they are there to talk and meet new people with new ideas.

Business networking is never a casual conversation. Most good networkers use a few rules. First, they spend only 7 to 10 minutes with a new contact. Don’t be offended if they abruptly end the conversation. You don’t have a lot of time to say what you want so think about what you want the person to remember tomorrow – no more than a few points. Your delivery matters too. If it sounds like you are fast-forwarding a voice recording of your highlights, the person may remember your delivery and not the information.

Set Networking Goals

It’s important to set some weekly goals when it comes to connecting with potential customers and influencers. Some suggest contacting 10 people per day. I find it difficult to follow-up with that many people myself. I suggest setting a minimum of 5 to 10 people or companies per week.

Filed under: Marketing & Sales

Tags: customer development, engaging customers, entrepeneur, product marketing, start up marketing