This week we had Dr. Alex coach us on effective communication methods to approach potential customers. Our teams were grouped into their respective projects and were tasked to create a probing scenario where the objective was to understand our customers better. They key intention here was not to try and sell a product, the main goal rather was to establish a clear purpose statement and to clearly distinguish the needs of the customer.
Through the role playing scenarios that were conducted during the seminars, I made a list of observations that kept recurring as each time went along:
- Most people forget to clearly define their intentions and purpose statement to their interviewee
- Many groups had a tendency to jump straight into their selling points
- Some questions they asked did not help them uncover the actual pains of their customers
- There were quite a few instances where assumptions were made that their customers had a problem that needed to be solved when reality their product or services were not required
- Similarly, there were groups that completely overlooked effective probing techniques and missed out on the fact-finding opportunities by asking arbitrary questions.
- A few groups had incorrectly profiled their target customers and in some cases targeted a rather niche type of audience.
What I learned is, most of us have an inclination and concern about the ability to sell something. However, the most important step is to know your customer. Without that knowledge, our interviews become meaningless and unfruitful, perhaps it may even suggests to potential investors that a concrete business model has yet to be developed.
