The document discusses the importance of talking to customers when developing new products. It notes that 70-90% of new products fail, often because companies don't understand customer needs. The top reasons for failure are not knowing customers, lacking a clear value proposition, and focusing on features rather than problems. Companies should talk to customers throughout the product development process to discover opportunities, understand behaviors and expectations, and validate the product. Regular customer feedback is key to improving products and avoiding costly mistakes.

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Talking to Customers
The Product Mentor
October 18, 2013
MENTOR: Beth Temple

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It is commonly estimated that between
70-90% of new products fail.
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Which is a frightening statistic because
new products are continually in demand.
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Evidenced by the fact that
product lifecycles are shortening.
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Why product lifecycles are shortening
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rapid
advancement of
technology
an
overabundance
of products
creates
consumer
attention spans
shortening
requiring

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Change is happening quickly
and it is directly
affecting product viability.
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It’s up to us to
eradicate product failure!
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What are the 5
mistakes you don’t want to make?
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Top 5 reasons new products fail
Don’t know who your customers are. If you don’t know who
your customers are – you don’t know what they need, how
they will adopt and use the product, what other products they
use, how big the market is, or how to market to them.
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Top 5 reasons new products fail
Don’t know who your customers are. If you don’t know who
your customers are – you don’t know what they need, how
they will adopt and use the product, what other products they
use, how big the market is, or how to market to them.
Lack of value proposition. Without it – you won’t be able to
make decisions or you’ll make bad ones. This is where you
identify the problem that needs to be solved.
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2

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Top 5 reasons new products fail
Don’t know who your customers are. If you don’t know who
your customers are – you don’t know what they need, how
they will adopt and use the product, what other products they
use, how big the market is, or how to market to them.
Lack of value proposition. Without it – you won’t be able to
make decisions or you’ll make bad ones. This is where you
identify the problem that needs to be solved.
Focus on a feature and not the problem to be solved. Features
come and go – problems persist and multiply.
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Top 5 reasons new products fail
Don’t get out in front of customers early and often enough.
Issues can be discovered in early stage testing that save time,
money and reputation.
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Top 5 reasons new products fail
Don’t get out in front of customers early and often enough.
Issues can be discovered in early stage testing that save time,
money and reputation.
Building by committee. There should be one person, who
oversees a diversified team, who is accountable and
responsible for the product and its outcome. You build
successful digital products through collaboration but not by
committee.
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5

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Out of the top 5,
4 are about customers.
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n Why
n When
n How
talking to customers
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A product shouldn’t be internally
determined.
It should be externally inspired.
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Important reasons why you talk to customers
n Customers are what makes a product a business
n Mitigate the risks of uncertainty
n Discover and assess market opportunity
n Understand behaviors, needs, and expectations
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2 things you should know about customers
n The product must solve a problem a customer has or helps them
accomplish a familiar task in a better way.
n Customers are not focused on just one way to find a solution –
they are looking at all kinds of ways to find the right solution.
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The only way to find out what
your customers are thinking …
is to talk to them!
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You can’t build product in a conference room
n This is a typical way to build products – people sitting around in
a conference room with an ‘idea’!
n Smart people with customer data and product and business
know how – what more could you need?
n This is rife with risk
n Eric Ries calls this GOOB (get out of the building)
n The value of your product is outside of the conference room in
your customers’ behavior, needs and expectations
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2 big disruptions you create
n Customers need to figure out how your product will fit into their
day/life (practical application).
n Customers need to figure out how it works (technical
application).
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Customers are now part of the process
n Lean: build – measure – learn
n Agile: user stories
n Learn through customer feedback cycles
n Validate product viability
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n Why
n When
n How
talking to customers
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There is a difference between
knowing how to build something
and knowing what to build.
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When to talk to customers
n Throughout the process of any product ideation and build-out.
n At critical intervals.
n When there are times of team disagreement or features don’t
‘feel right’.
n When you don’t know what you need to know to go forward.
n If 6 or 8 weeks have gone by and you haven’t talked to
customers – there better be a really good reason why!
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When to talk to customers
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Idea Assess/
Define
Design
wireframes,
visual design
Build
Typical new product process
Talk to
customers:
behaviors,
routines,
unmet needs
Talk to
customers:
expectations,
usage,
usability
Talk to
customers:
usage,
adoption
prototype,
alpha/beta
multiple x’smultiple x’s

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Idea stage
n Focus: understand behaviors, routines, and unmet needs.
n Go out and talk to and observe potential customers to see if
their expectations align with the product you have in mind.
– This is the time to discover and understand the market opportunities and
challenges.
– Learn about customers’ existing routines, product use, and unmet needs.
– Don’t ask or talk about your ‘idea’.
n Results may bear out (better now than after the product is built)
that customers don’t need or want the product as it is defined.
– This does not mean there isn’t some part of the product that will resonate or
there isn’t another opportunity, so listen closely.
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Design stage
n Focus: understand expectations, usage, and usability.
n When you get to the design stage talk to customers at
intermittent stages and multiple times throughout.
n When the designs are in paper format, show them to a small
group of targeted customers to get feedback.
n The intent is to find the quickest way to establish a view of the
user’s experience that can easily be tested.
n Don’t assume every comment needs to be addressed; focus
only on the comments which are repeated amongst client sets.
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Build stage
n Focus: understand usage and adoption.
n Use clickable prototypes, MVP, next release.
n At this stage the team should be looking at the general usage
and adoption behavior in order to make necessary small
adjustments.
n Feedback can be actively collected through one-to-one calls/
WebEx or in-person meetings which allow for observation.
n This process should be repeated as often as it takes (often 2-3
cycles) to enhance the likelihood of success.
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n Why
n When
n How
talking to customers
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It is not a product until your
customers say it is a product.
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Customer empathy
n How easy it for you to change?
n That is essentially what you are asking customers to do when
you launch a product, new, enhanced or redesigned.
n Your job is to make their change easy, not hard.
n To do that you need to think like a customer not a product
builder.
n The best way to do this is talk to customers; understand your
product through their point of view.
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What goes wrong when talking to customers
n You, as a product builder are too emotionally attached.
– You simply cannot be attached to the outcome. It’s hard. It takes practice.
– Establish a neutral stance remove emotional attachments and vested
interests.
n As humans we have a desire to validate our own views.
n You talk more than you LISTEN.
– You want to sell the idea and its promise instead of listening to their needs.
n You talk to customers to learn about what the product SHOULD
be – not to validate what you WANT the product to be.
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The types of customer testing
n Interviews (phone, man-on-the-street)
n In-person usability observation
n Landing pages
n Wizard of Oz
n Concierge
n A/B testing
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Talking to customers
n It is not necessary to go out and talk to 100’s of customers.
n Depending on what is being tested somewhere between 6-12
customers will usually provide the knowledge you need.
n That group should be profiled to match the targeted market
most likely to use the product.
n Interacting one-to-one is the best format. In-person if you can,
though phone is just as good.
n It is important that feedback is gathered by a small group (1-2
people) for interpretation consistency.
– Look for and identify general themes versus specific details.
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Example: Wanna buy a smartphone?
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What it takes …
n Practice
n Diligence
n Curiosity
n Empathy
n Riding the pause
n Listen for the opportunity
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Q&A
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Thank you!
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bethtemple4u llc, 917.446.2871
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Beth Temple
bethtemple4u llc
917.446.2871
beth@bethtemple4u.com
@bethtemple4u
http://bethtemple4u.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/btemple