“Prefer” Postmortem: 6 Lessons Learned From Building An Independent Pro Network

This experience emboldened my observation that most product teams only spend the final mile of their experience building the product thinking about (and testing) the first mile of the customer’s experience using the product.

“When you try to do something for everyone, you don’t get it right for any one.”

Soloists (independent service professionals of all kinds) routinely get their best new clients via referrals from existing clients, and prefer referrals over paying for leads, placing ads, and gaming search engines.

Customers prefer a trusted referral from friends over four stars from strangers any day of the week.

Among independent professionals, there is a need for peer support and best practice exchange, informal referral networks, and periodic gatherings.

Lesson reinforced: You can only force a new behavior for network participants when it is 10x better.