Building with users

Today, I thought to write about the part of my work that I truly value and enjoy.

It's normal to build for customers. At Good Tenants , we've found that building with them is even more exciting.

For an industry were there has been relatively low penetration of technology, spending time with them is our users is own way of "doing things that don't scale". Whether it's in demos, support visits, celebrating with them or customer team trainings, there's always something to learn.

I thought to share the key learnings for me (may apply more to B2B businesses) are:

1. Actually Listen - This is so underrated but we've reached PMF for one of our customer segments because they've literally led us to build. I'm always reminding out team to listen for verbal and non-verbal cues. Our most-loved features weren't in our original plan.
2. Be transparent about what's working and what is not - We're happy to highlight features that we have, those in our pipeline and those we haven't even considered. No one wants to be lied to. Truth helps to build trust
3. Push value first, pricing second - This is debatable but we want people to see value before the finalizing pricing. Of course, we discuss pricing at the first meeting but that's quickly de-emphasized for value partly because we truly want to see this industry grow and succeed and we know our customers will reward us if we help them succeed.
4. Understand the users: More specifically, for an industry with low tech penetration, we're prioritizing understanding who our users are, not just in relation to their work or our software but as humans who have needs, wants, career, business and emotional goals/needs.

All the best,

Adekunle Samuel Jinadu.

Notes

1. If you're a leader in the real estate industry, we're currently sharing insights to help you stay abreast of innovation in the industry. I'd like to add you to our network. Please drop a note and I'll reach out.
2. We're hosting a innovation and technology tour for real estate businesses in Abuja in October! We'll give honest answers to all things technology & real estate. I'd like to come to your office! Please send me a message, drop a comment or email me - [email protected] .
3. We're hosting the ecosystem in a few weeks! Please stay in touch to learn about this.