Our Customers Were Lying To Us
I thought people needed what we were building.
Turns out they didn't.
When we started Bonfire, we set out to make it easier for remote teams to find and book virtual events.
In just 4 months, we:
In the beginning, a lot of potential customers would say,
However, the same level of excitement didn't last once we built the prototype.
After reading The Mom Test, I quickly learned that it was my fault in asking them the wrong questions. It turns out, a lot of people make these mistakes.
Here are 3 lessons I learned so you don't fall into the same trap.
1. Don't associate your idea to your identity.
If you were to tell your mom that you have an amazing business idea, she will definitely agree with you. Regardless of how bad the idea is.
Why? Because she cares for you.
By telling her that it's your idea and showing how passionate you are about it, it makes it incredibly difficult for her to give her true opinion on it. The same goes for anyone else around you. If they care for your feelings, they will most likely say that your idea is good.
When we first started Bonfire, I began conversations by saying I quit my full-time job for this. For me, this was a big and exciting journey in my startup career, and I couldn't wait to share it.
So how do you think people would react? Would people say that this is a bad idea or that I was dumb to quit my job for it? No. They don't want to bring me down. Instead, they said that this was a great idea.
Instead, I should have said "How does your team manage virtual events?"
This way, it has nothing to do with me and the idea. Customers can now answer honestly without having to worry about hurting my feelings.
When you have customer conversations, don't associate the idea to your identity. Instead, keep it very general or about the user.
2. Don't talk about the future.
"Would you use this?"
99% of people said yes. Of course they would say yes. Who doesn't like fun virtual events?
But here's the problem, people are generally bad at judging how they will act in the future. In this case, many people overestimated how committed they would be.
Same goes for price. Don't ask people, "How much would you pay for this?" They have no idea.
You can tell because people say they would pay a certain price for something. Then if you actually have a prototype they can buy in that moment, they'll come up with some excuse as to why they can't buy it.
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So how do you go around this? Ask about their past.
At Bonfire, when we started talking about our users' pasts, things became clearer.
Many said that it wasn't a big problem for them. Some just have a junior person on their team organize the events.
Sure it was annoying to do and a dream solution sounded nice. But based on their past behaviour, it was clear that it wasn't a big problem for most people.
One question I like to ask is, "What have you done to try and solve this problem?" This gives you an idea of how big the problem is. If they haven't done anything, then maybe it's not big enough. This also shows which channels your potential customer would go to find your solution.
3. Don't interrupt them.
It's tempting.
When you're so passionate about what you're building, it's temping to interrupt your user when they're not saying what you expect.
"Yes but our solution will be able to automate the planning process and save you hours."
Especially early on with Bonfire, I realized that I was defending our idea too much that it didn't give them an opportunity to speak authentically.
In fact, when they said good things about our business, I actively encouraged them.
The goal of these conversations are to understand your users and their problems. Not for you to defend your idea.
Let them talk.
What you should be doing though, is taking notes.
Many people will also start suggesting ideas for you to work on. These are great but remember, their job is to tell you the problem. YOUR job is to come up with the right solution.
The Mom Test
The Mom Test is an incredible way to ask questions and better understand your customers.
If you've tried user interviews, you'll know that it's easy to fall into some of these traps.
Hope the learnings from our experience were helpful.
For more insights like these, follow Smoothie!
Follow me on Twitter: @mattkim_5
Thanks,
Matt