If you are starting a business, don’t talk about “customers.” Talk about individuals. Customers are people. Customers are not abstractions.
Many first-time entrepreneurs forget this basic point.
This happens all the time during startup pitches in my class. Students refer to some abstract “customer.” It usually goes like this, “Our beachhead customer is a Millennial female who makes $75-125,000 and lives in a metropolitan area. She doesn’t have time for … so we’ve built a solution that …”
I always push back, “What's her name. Tell me something about her.”
Students often look at me with a puzzled expression. And, then they get a clever look on their face and say something like, “Our customer, let’s call her Priya, is a technologically savvy Millennial. After college she became a consultant who is on the road from Monday to Thursday. She lives in the Mission District in San Francisco and painted her loft in “Illuminating” yellow and “Ultimate Gray, ” the pantone colors of 2021. Etc. etc.”
They think they’ve answered the question. They haven't.
They expect an “A.” That answer won’t get them one.
I ask again. And, I know that I haven’t masked the weariness, the frustration, well enough, this time.
“Tell me about an actual person. Someone you know and have met and talked with. Tell me her name. Tell me about her life or work. Have you been inside her office? What did you see there? Feel there? How did she respond when you put the prototype in her hands? Has she paid you any money, yet? Because if she hasn’t, she’s not a customer. She’s a prospective customer.”
Understanding the customer as an individual person becomes even more important if your startup offers a solution to businesses, enterprises.
In the case of B2B customers, I often hear students say:
“Our customer is a bank.” No, banks don’t buy from you; a person in the bank buys from you.
“Our customer is a banker.” No, your customer is an individual human who works in the bank and has a specific job-to-be-done; an individual story. She has specific fears and hopes. She has to influence other people before she can issue a purchase order. This involves extra work for her. This involves career risk for her.
How can you make her a champion for your business if you don’t know who she is? How can you make her a hero in her own story when you don’t know her name?
David Ogilvy taught us a long time ago that no one walks into a pharmacy and says, “I’m a Gen Z female who makes $36-49,000 per year, sell me something.” She says, “I have a headache. Where’s the Tylenol.“
Each generation has to re-learn this fundamental lesson. And, to be honest, I have to re-learn it with each new class of students. With each entrepreneur I mentor. With each Fortune 50 executive I advise.
I hear your push-back, “We can’t speak about each and every one of our customers.“ No, you can’t. Not at scale. But you’re in startup. You haven’t sold one thing, yet.
To make the first sale, go introduce yourself to Priya.
*This post was inspired by DHH's latest post, Stop Talking About Product. It's a must-read.
Many first-time entrepreneurs forget this basic point.
This happens all the time during startup pitches in my class. Students refer to some abstract “customer.” It usually goes like this, “Our beachhead customer is a Millennial female who makes $75-125,000 and lives in a metropolitan area. She doesn’t have time for … so we’ve built a solution that …”
I always push back, “What's her name. Tell me something about her.”
Students often look at me with a puzzled expression. And, then they get a clever look on their face and say something like, “Our customer, let’s call her Priya, is a technologically savvy Millennial. After college she became a consultant who is on the road from Monday to Thursday. She lives in the Mission District in San Francisco and painted her loft in “Illuminating” yellow and “Ultimate Gray, ” the pantone colors of 2021. Etc. etc.”
They think they’ve answered the question. They haven't.
They expect an “A.” That answer won’t get them one.
I ask again. And, I know that I haven’t masked the weariness, the frustration, well enough, this time.
“Tell me about an actual person. Someone you know and have met and talked with. Tell me her name. Tell me about her life or work. Have you been inside her office? What did you see there? Feel there? How did she respond when you put the prototype in her hands? Has she paid you any money, yet? Because if she hasn’t, she’s not a customer. She’s a prospective customer.”
Understanding the customer as an individual person becomes even more important if your startup offers a solution to businesses, enterprises.
In the case of B2B customers, I often hear students say:
“Our customer is a bank.” No, banks don’t buy from you; a person in the bank buys from you.
“Our customer is a banker.” No, your customer is an individual human who works in the bank and has a specific job-to-be-done; an individual story. She has specific fears and hopes. She has to influence other people before she can issue a purchase order. This involves extra work for her. This involves career risk for her.
How can you make her a champion for your business if you don’t know who she is? How can you make her a hero in her own story when you don’t know her name?
David Ogilvy taught us a long time ago that no one walks into a pharmacy and says, “I’m a Gen Z female who makes $36-49,000 per year, sell me something.” She says, “I have a headache. Where’s the Tylenol.“
Each generation has to re-learn this fundamental lesson. And, to be honest, I have to re-learn it with each new class of students. With each entrepreneur I mentor. With each Fortune 50 executive I advise.
I hear your push-back, “We can’t speak about each and every one of our customers.“ No, you can’t. Not at scale. But you’re in startup. You haven’t sold one thing, yet.
To make the first sale, go introduce yourself to Priya.
*This post was inspired by DHH's latest post, Stop Talking About Product. It's a must-read.