How does your customer buy? When do they buy? Why do they buy? Where do they buy?

In a classic enterprise sale, you will often have a strategic buyer (who is excited about the change you can bring), an economic buyer (who controls the purse), a technical buyer (who might have approval/blocker rights), and then the actual users of your product.

Testing for Price

My recommendation is to set up a situation where the subject thinks they are actually buying something, even if they know the thing doesn’t exist yet. Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms are used by a lot of teams to test pre-order demand.

list out the riskiest hypotheses.

time. I have found that it is extremely effective to ask people for their time, but for later, after the conference or meetup. Get their business card, let them get back to networking, and then have an in-depth conversation when it fits their schedule. Immediately after the conference while their memories are still fresh, send them a short email

My target customer will be? The problem my customer wants to solve is? My customer’s need can be solved with? Why can’t my customer solve this today? The measurable outcome my customer wants to achieve is? My primary customer acquisition tactic will be? My earliest adopter will be? I will make money (revenue) by? My primary competition will be? I

By walking in your customer’s shoes you will gain empathy and personal understanding, but you don’t want to rely solely on your own experience. By watching people shop, you can witness honest behavior, but you won’t be able to get into their heads to know their motivations. By talking to people, you gather intel on both behavior and motivation, but

First, I want you to walk a day in your customer’s shoes and actually go out and buy a pillow. Second, I want you to observe people in the process of buying a pillow. And third, I want you to talk directly to them.”