How do you identify and engage with the potential customers of your disruptive innovation?

1 Understand the job to be done

One of the key concepts of disruptive innovation is the job to be done, which is the underlying problem or need that customers are trying to solve with a product or service. Rather than focusing on the features or benefits of your offering, you should try to understand what job your customers are hiring your product or service to do for them. For example, people don't buy a drill because they want a drill, they buy a drill because they want to make holes. By understanding the job to be done, you can identify the pain points, frustrations, and trade-offs that customers face with their current solutions, and how your innovation can address them better.

2 Segment your market by non-consumption

Another way to identify potential customers for your disruptive innovation is to segment your market by non-consumption, which means looking for customers who are not using any existing solution for the job to be done. These customers may have unmet or latent needs that are not satisfied by the current offerings, or they may face barriers such as cost, complexity, accessibility, or skill that prevent them from using them. By segmenting your market by non-consumption, you can find opportunities to create new value propositions that appeal to these customers who are overlooked or excluded by the incumbents.

3 Test your assumptions with experiments

Once you have a hypothesis about who your potential customers are and what value proposition you can offer them, you need to test your assumptions with experiments. Experiments are low-cost and fast ways to validate or invalidate your assumptions by collecting feedback and data from real or potential customers. You can use various methods such as surveys, interviews, landing pages, prototypes, or pilots to test different aspects of your innovation, such as the problem-solution fit, the product-market fit, or the business model fit. By testing your assumptions with experiments, you can learn from your failures, iterate on your ideas, and refine your value proposition.

4 Build relationships with early adopters

Another tip to engage with potential customers of your disruptive innovation is to build relationships with early adopters, who are the customers who are willing and able to try your new product or service before it is widely available or proven. Early adopters are often more open to innovation, more tolerant of risk and uncertainty, and more influential in spreading the word about your solution. You can find early adopters by looking for customers who have a strong need or desire for the job to be done, who have expressed dissatisfaction with the current solutions, or who have shown interest in your innovation through your experiments. By building relationships with early adopters, you can gain valuable insights, feedback, and referrals that can help you improve your product or service and reach more customers.

5 Communicate your value proposition clearly

The final tip to engage with potential customers of your disruptive innovation is to communicate your value proposition clearly. Your value proposition is the statement that summarizes how your product or service solves the customer's problem, what benefits it delivers, and why it is different from the alternatives. Communicating your value proposition clearly is important because it helps you attract and retain customers who understand and appreciate your solution, and it helps you differentiate yourself from the competition. You can communicate your value proposition clearly by using simple and compelling language, by telling stories or showing examples, and by focusing on the outcomes and emotions that your solution enables.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?