Rahul Choudhary on Customer Development

Timofei: Can you describe your process for understanding customer expectations and identifying their struggles?

Rahul: Certainly. The first step of my process is to send questionnaires with well thought out questions. The second step is sourcing reviews from customers, both good and bad. From the positive ones, I get a sense of the customers' expectations and from the negative ones, I identify their struggles and unfulfilled needs. The third step is social listening. I join industry groups, niche forums, and Facebook groups to monitor the conversations happening there. I even join groups led by influencers in the sector. I collect insights from these conversations and that completes my process.

Timofei: Have you encountered any obstacles during this process?

Rahul: Yes, several. One challenge is when a client has a very unique concept and they are not sure about their customers themselves. They may have a very general idea of their target audience which can be too broad for effective targeting. Another issue is when a client doesn't have previous customer data or analytics in place for us to review. Lastly, sometimes it can be difficult to find relevant communities or groups to join, especially for very niche businesses.

Timofei: How do you usually communicate with your clients?

Rahul: After onboarding a client, they get an email from my personal account which they can use to contact me. I check these emails daily and respond five days a week. Clients also get my personal number which they can use to reach me on WhatsApp and Telegram. I also schedule two calls a month with clients, allowing them enough time to implement the strategies we discuss.

Timofei: Are there any specific tools you use to learn about your clients and their target audience?

Rahul: I frequently use SparkToro and have also tried СhatGTP. While ChatGPT does not provide as accurate data as SparkToro, it serves as a good complementary tool to add some extra information to the research.

Timofei: Can you share more about your questionnaires? How many questions do they typically contain, and did you develop them yourself?

Rahul: The questionnaires are different for each client. They started as something I developed myself, but over time I've refined and expanded them based on insights from working with clients. The length of the questionnaire can vary depending on whether I've worked in the client's niche before.

Timofei: How do you handle discussions after clients fill out your questionnaires?

Rahul: After clients fill out the questionnaire, we have an onboarding call where we discuss the responses. I make it clear to clients upfront that the questionnaire is lengthy but is crucial for the success of their project.

Timofei: If you could have a product to enhance this process, what would it do?

Rahul: I would appreciate a tool for social listening that can monitor conversations happening in Facebook groups or niche communities. A review scraping tool that could identify patterns and common phrases from customer reviews would also be beneficial.

Timofei: Lastly, is LinkedIn your primary source of attracting clients?

Rahul: Yes, I would say LinkedIn accounts for about 60% of my clients, while referrals make up the remaining 40%. My strategy on LinkedIn has always been to share content specifically targeted for potential clients rather than just trying to grow my followers. This has been effective in attracting new clients.