Interviewing Customers No. 2

1) Fine tune your opportunity. You began with an idea of what an opportunity might be. After your first round of interviews, what do you think, now? 

After researching the price of solar panels and the lack of subsidies for solar in Florida, I decided to ask potential customers about another idea. This idea is explained in the elevator pitch blog. 

2) Fine tune the "who." Did you talk to the right customers last time? What did you do differently this time? How did you adjust your conceptualization of who your customers are?

I did speak with the right customers last time as they were homeowners with nothing obstructing their roof from the sun.  I could have spoken to customers in a different neighborhood with higher incomes to get different results.  For the Trashport Pro, I decided to interview people who lived in apartments as this would be the most likely customer.

3) Tweaking your interview questions. You might need to ask different kinds of questions to get at a fuller, richer idea of what your opportunity is. What kind of changes did you make?

Due to changing the idea to the Trashport Pro, I asked questions about their "garbage day" habits.  I saw other student's customer interviews that asked what a person might pay for the product and I thought that was a great idea so I added that to my list of questions.  I asked how they transported the trash to the dumpster, then explained my idea and asked if they were interested and how much they think the product would be worth.

4) Go talk to customers! This is the same deal as last time: 5 people, you can't know them, you must video record them.

5) Tell us what you learned about the opportunity. You now have 10 interviews under your belt. What do you think about your opportunity now that's different from where you started?  

I was really surprised with the reactions I received about the Trashport Pro concept.  Unfortunately, I didn't record the entire videos because once I got my answers I shut off the camera.  But after the recording people started to really get into the idea and asked me more questions about it. Some even putting forth their own ideas on how the product could work.

6) Tell us what you learned about interviewing customers. You're practically an expert on interviewing customers. Please write three tips that you'd like to offer students in this class next semester about interviewing customers.

I have had a lot of fun interviewing potential customers and have learned quite a bit about how to get started with the interview.  First off, if you are knocking on people's doors, they are automatically thinking you are selling something or preaching the good word, which they want none of.  

Do not start by asking if the person has a minute, time is money, and a random person doesn't want to give you anything for free.  A good tactic is to introduce yourself by saying your name and mentioning that you are a student doing an assignment.  This will make the person feel at ease as you are not a potential threat to their finances or beliefs. Another tip would be to relax and have fun, this will lower the customer's stress level so they will be more likely to open up and give you more input about your idea.