Transcript Agenda - Rich Mironov`s Product Bytes

Getting Into Customers' Heads
Rich Mironov
21-July-04
www.mironov.com
[email protected]
©2004
Agenda
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Introductions
Are you selling or listening?
War story: medication management
Pricing as a listening exercise
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Know What You Know
 Some things I know
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Technical product design
Enterprise computing
Network security
Pricing for rational organizations
 Some things I don’t know
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Consumer electronics and home computing
Non-tech markets
Fashion-driven buying behavior
Large-scale advertising
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Selling & Listening
 Can’t do both at the same time
 Some roles are mostly selling
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Sales & Marketing
Recruiting
Personal trainer
PR, Investor Relations
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Tech support
Doctor
Order admin
Reporter
 Some roles are listening (then solving)
 “Sellers” need to make time to listen and learn
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Selling or Listening?
 You are selling when you…
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Do most of the talking
Anticipate objections
Plan your arguments
Understand material
Have a goal in mind
 You are listening when you…
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Ask open-ended questions
Take notes
Repeat for clarification
Use silence
Expect to be surprised
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Example: Pitching Press & Analysts
 Completing a product roll-out
 30 press calls, 15 industry analysts
 I already have an agenda
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“Great company, important customers…”
“New versions has breakthrough features…”
“We know where the market is going…”
“Here’s an amusing anecdote…”
 Pitching, not listening
 A few analysts may actually know something
 How to sincerely ask their opinions?
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Example: Trade Show
 Goal: pull in wandering attendees
 Quick qualification, scan their badges
 I already have an agenda
 “Do you have a wireless network?”
 “What kind of security are you using?”
 “Can we get you more information about…”
 Mental shift for (rare) knowledgeable visitors
 Existing customers
 Potential business partners
 Serious prospects
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When Selling Fails
 Truly not a prospect -or-
seemingly not a prospect?
 What if you had…
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Mis-labeled benefits
Alternate product configuration
Wrong market or audience
Less likely application
Wrong pricing model
 Can’t know until you get inside their heads
 Critical in new and evolving markets
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Making Time to Learn
Who:
 Members of your target audience
but not current sales targets
 Friends of friends
 Willing to be blunt
Value their time
 Make a formal appointment
 Buy lunch? Token gift?
 Promise not to market/sell for 90 days
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“I can’t stop for
gas or I’ll be late
for the party.”
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Extended Interview Format
 Get inside their heads
 1+ hour intensive in-person interviews
 Open-ended questions, lots of listening
 Record session if possible
 Ask about…
How their business works
Terminology
Natural units of work
What keeps them awake at night (pain)
Current solutions, alternatives, shortcomings,
competitors
 Unstated requirements
 Pricing and ROI dimensions
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Example: What's the Unit of Work?
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Hospitals are sized in “beds”
Airlines in “passenger-miles”
Pharmacies in “prescriptions”
Hotels in “room nights”
HR departments in “employees”
Assembly plants in “trucks per day”
Chip fabrication in “yield” and “wafer size”
Sales force automation software in “seats”
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And Listen For…
 Their concerns…
not the concerns you wish they had
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How they describe their needs
Motivators and blockers
Customer’s idea of competitors
Do features matter?
Word of mouth, reputation
Emotional climate
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How Much Listening is Enough?
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See “natural” market segments
Understand customer’s internal logic
Silently anticipate answers
Priority of requirements are obvious
 Established markets: one or two
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“listening sessions” per month
New markets: until you see the
patterns
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?
Quiz
Q:
What are the four most powerful words in
Marketing?
A:
“A customer told me…”
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Agenda
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Introductions
Are you selling or listening?
War story: medication management
Pricing as a listening exercise
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War Story: Healthcare
 Concept-stage start-up
 Application to manage inventory and
re-ordering of patient medications
 What should application do?
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Is there a market?
Wide-ranging one-on-one interviews…
 Long-term nursing facility
 Leading private-practice spinal surgeon
 Large acute care hospital
 Lots to learn, many surprises
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Long-Term Care Facility
 Stable group of 15-30 residents (patients)
 Elderly, chronic illnesses,
complex mix of medications
 Residents each have own doctor
 Families often pay for meds
 Several local pharmacies,
varied ordering lead times
 What keeps operator awake at night?
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One patient runs out of something
Lost meds, refused meds, stolen meds
Notifying family of status, problems
Low-wage workers, high turnover
 Dream solutions: auto-renew each Rx as needed,
auto-notify families of changes in resident status
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Spinal Surgeon
 Private practice, 100+ active patients
 Mostly on-the-job, Workmen’s Comp
 Chronic back pain notoriously hard to verify
 Skilled and stable staff
 Doctor, 3 nurses, office manager, receptionist
 Most meds are controlled substances
 Therefore, no refills without an office visit
 What keeps them awake at night?
 No-shows, appointment reminders
 Drug seekers
 Scheduling office hours, surgery, pro bono
 Dream solution: auto-confirm appointments
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Large Municipal Hospital
 Serves broad community
 Paying and non-paying patients
 Many departments, complex processes
 Legacy systems
 Doctors prescribe, pharmacy dispenses
 What keeps them awake at night?
 HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act
 Litigation
 Cost containment, supply “stock-outs”
 Can’t “restock” meds if unused
 Dream solution: secure, integrated patient information
tied to real-time dispensing & costing
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What Did I Learn?
 Initial concept was very limited
 Healthcare is very complicated
 Looks like one segment
 Endless opportunity to be surprised
 Postponed design for more research
 More interviews or narrower target?
 8 hours well spent
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Post-Course Corrections
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Some Take-Aways
 Assume you don’t know everything
 Set aside time to listen, learn
 Let the world surprise you
 Climb into customers’ heads
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Agenda
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Introductions
Are you selling or listening?
War story: medication management
Pricing as a listening exercise
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Exercise: Pricing for Consulting
 Your last start-up just closed, so you are
suddenly a consultant. A prospective client
needs some market analysis
 What are your pricing objectives?
 How to structure a project?
 Risks for you? For client?
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Possible Objectives
 Work at any price
 Food on the table
 Loss leader
 Underprice first assignment, get follow-on work
 Good reference for other clients
 Become indispensable
 Push for a full-time position later
 Gain market experience
 What will the market bear? OK to lose assignment
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Possible Models for Consulting Project
 Per hour, no limits
 Per project
 Fixed price for initial sizing
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(“pay me to estimate”)
Per hour with project ceiling
Milestones (progress payments)
Equity (pre-IPO stock)
Customer sets value at end
Shared savings (portion of ROI)
Free (experience, reference, try&buy)
Barter
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Risks in Consulting Models
Client’s Risk
Consultant’s Risk
Straight Hourly
Unlimited cost,
quality, completion
None
Fixed project price
(pay on completion)
Timely completion
Unlimited effort,
defining “done”
Partial work not
valuable, inspecting
Upfront analysis
May overpay later
No immediate cash
value
Fixed price
milestones
Equity, portion of
ROI
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A Few More Take-Aways
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Assume you don’t know everything
Set aside time to listen, learn
Let the world surprise you
Climb into customers’ heads
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Innovators may have to invent markets
Pricing models should match solution
Listening is the first step
Not a one-time effort
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Getting Into Customers' Heads
Rich Mironov
21-July-04
www.mironov.com
[email protected]
©2004