Get out of the building? is a term coined by Steve Blank which represents the fact that we cannot create a business in the vacuum of our offices or classrooms. We dont know what we dont know
At the end of this week, students should be able to:
explain what it means to Get out of the Building?;
use various techniques for interviewing to obtain customer feedback; and
create meaningful patterns, themes and discoveries from feedback data.
Overview
Get out of the building? is a term coined by Steve Blank which represents the fact that we cannot create a business in the vacuum of our offices or classrooms. We dont know what we dont know until we get out into the real world and ask questions. Until we get out of the building?, we are merely guessing what we think the customer wants or needs. In the next course, BUSN 3600, getting out of the building will involve talking to suppliers, marketing people, competitors, distribution people, partners, and customers. In that course, we will create an entire business model. However, for this course we are focusing on the product market fit so our interest is on customer feedback only.
Getting out of the Building
Lets let the following video explain what it really means to Get out of the Building?
THE LEAN APPROACH: GETTING OUT OF THE BUILDING: CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT
Below is important information to get you ready for your customer interviews.
Make sure everyone on your team has a strong sense of the potential customer. Do a profile of the type of customer you will all interview. If you do not interview people in your target market, you will not receive the important feedback you are seeking. Everyone should identify 10 people they will interview. DO NOT RECORD NAMES AND DO NOT ASK FOR PERSONAL OR PRIVATE INFORMATION. You can use initials or numbers for tracking purposes. However, we are not interested in specific people, just overall trends and patterns. Do not pressure people into answering your questions if they seem uncomfortable or unwilling to participate. This is completely voluntary. Reluctant interviewees do not provide the best feedback.
Decide as a group what it is you want to learn. I recommend you read ahead to next weeks material to help your creative juices to start flowing. Be sure to ask about the most important jobs, pains, and gains. Have a set of questions ready. These may not be the only questions you ask, but they will keep you focused. Be ready to evolve your questions and your thinking as the conversation with the customer takes on its own shape. Do not be too married to your list of questions. Remember, you are there to listen and learn. Keep your mind open to ask additional questions you did not anticipate.
Role play with a team mate or a friend find someone who best represents the customer. Ask the questions you have generated. Get used to how they sound and practice following up with the customer on any feedback you receive.
Remember, avoid asking direct questions relating to the customers opinion on whether they would buy the product or service. You are trying to learn as much as you can about the customers jobs, pains and gains at this point. We are trying to improve our MVP.
One of the biggest mistakes students make is not recording the answers to the questions they ask. They wait for hours or days to make a few notes just to show they did the work. This is obviously not the best way to capture the rich data that comes from your interviews. PLEASE do not use recording devices. You may be violating privacy laws. Interviewees have a right to know they are being taped. Also, you may not receive the most honest or complete answers to your questions if people know they are being interviewed and recorded. Here are four suggestions for capturing the most accurate information from your interviews:
Ask someone to accompany you to your interviews so they can take notes for you.
Tell the person you are interviewing in advance that you will be pausing to write a few notes on the responses.
As soon as the interview is over, take the time to write down as much of the content from the customer feedback that you can remember. You will capture far more data now than five days from now!
Most importantly, map out the jobs, pains and gains on your value proposition map as soon as you can after the interview.
Making Sense of Customer Feedback
First of all, get it in one place so you can look at the big picture. The spreadsheet is important to capture all the information for recording purposes, but the value proposition canvas is where you will start to see how it all fits together.
You need to analyze the data. You are looking for patterns. Do customers have a similar job, pain or gain? Combine the similarities and separate the differences. Do you see any themes emerge? Does anything stand out as really insightful? Dont ignore the outliers. They may have important insights you can learn from. Are these the right customer profiles? Should you be considering a different target segment? Should you be considering a different approach to your MVP? How will you iterate? Will you pivot (make a major change in your value proposition)?Below, an article from last weeks material is reposted. The second half of this article provides great insight for synthesizing the data you have collected.
How to Build, Improve and Pivot a Minimum Viable Product? by Ryan Law https://www.cobloom.com/blog/minimum-viable-product
The answers to these and other important questions must be evident in the changes you make to your value proposition canvas and your MVP. Remember, these are the important components of this course and your grade.
NOTE TO CLASS:
You should be finalizing your first iteration of your MVP. It is due at the end of this week. Next week you will be getting out of the building? with your MVP and starting your customer interviews.
LEARNING BY DOING: GETTING OUT OF THE BUILDING
This week you should also be getting all group members ready to get out of the building?. Use the information above to prepare for next weeks first round of customer interviews.
Requirements: 1000
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