As a startup, finding new customers is essential for growing your business. Without customers, business owners cannot generate revenue and grow their target market. Fortunately, there are many ways to find new customers and expand your customer base. From leveraging social media to attending industry events, there are plenty of customer lifecycle methods to help you reach out to potential customers. With the right customer journey builder in place, you can acquire more customers and grow your startup market.
Finding customers is a critical aspect of any business, but it can be challenging to do so without focusing solely on your product features. Instead, businesses need to understand the customer lifecycle and implement strategies that increase revenue, and revenue retention, and maximize the contact count with their customers.
Segmenting audiences is a crucial first step in reaching out to potential customers. By identifying the characteristics and needs of different customer groups, businesses can tailor their marketing strategies to each segment more effectively. This approach increases the chances of resonating with customers, leading to a higher conversion rate.
The user strategy also plays a crucial role in finding customers without focusing on product features. Businesses need to think about the customer’s needs and how their product or service can help them meet those needs. Understanding the user journey, from initial discovery to purchase, helps businesses identify the pain points that customers face and how they can solve those problems.
Providing exceptional customer service is another way to find customers without focusing on product features. By going above and beyond to satisfy customers, businesses create positive word-of-mouth marketing, which can attract new customers. A satisfied customer is more likely to recommend a product or service to others, which can lead to an increase in revenue and revenue retention.
Maximizing the contact count with customers is also critical in finding new customers. By reaching out to customers regularly, businesses can build strong relationships and increase brand loyalty. This approach can lead to repeat purchases and long-term customers.
The following is a short introduction to finding your first 10 customers for your startup. This is based on my experience working with startups and talking to founders who were successful at finding their first 10 customers. I am not going to get into details of what your product or service should be, but rather focus on how you can find your first 10 customers in 10 days without talking about the features of your product.
As a B2B SaaS founder, the most important thing might be to start asking yourself ‘smart’ market diagnosis and profiling questions and thinking about your first 10 customers. The best way is to find out what would make them satisfied and understand your customer deep down. First, start asking questions yourself like:
- How many target customers do I have, and what is their typical demographic’?
- How can I get my most committed customers to become promoters of my product or services?
- What are common complaints or challenges that are faced by our target audience?
- How are other companies in the industry addressing these challenges?
- What do they offer that may work for me, too?
- Who are my competitors, and why should people choose me over them?
- What can I offer to my target audience,
10 Smart Market Diagnosis and Profiling Questions
by Dan S. Kennedy
Q1. What keeps them awake at night?
When I started the business, the question that kept me awake at night was ‘Will this company succeed?
I knew people were prepared to buy what I had to sell. We took lots of care in product development that could deliver value for customers and an easy process for them to use it. So why did I have sleepless nights? Because when you’re running your own company – particularly if it is one with no track record or external validation – everything rests on your shoulders. Nobody can step up and do what needs to be done if you don’t get it right. It’s hard not to think about things like ‘what happens if we run out of cash’ or ‘if we fail, will my investors be upset?’
Q2. What are they afraid of?
I recently attended a B2B SaaS Startup event. The speaker said that he gets very nervous before every pitch, regardless of what type of company is being pitched to or how much value it provides in clients’ business.
He also shared the following tips in terms of pitching:
1) Don’t rush out with your first pitch
2) Keep it simple
3) Remember who you are talking to
4) Provide them the immediate pain
5) Be honest
6) Tell stories
7 ) Say thank you
Q3. What are they angry about? Who are they angry at?
They are angry because they know that their company is not performing as well as it could, and they are having a bad experience that no matter what they do, nothing seems to work. The thing is, I am not sure anymore. I have spent the last 6 years of my life trying pretty hard to understand how people buy things written in English on paper or screens. Sure, it has been a wild ride with more failures than successes, but hey! You live, and you learn. I have learned some amazing stuff across 4 million page views and several hundred thousand blog posts read by thousands (or hundreds) of human beings (and bots). I can’t even begin to describe the biggest impact this journey has taught me about marketing — well, actually — no; oh wait — yes, I can:
- Marketing comprises everything that surrounds any activity related to identifying or satisfying consumer needs for particular products and services, including advertising research studying behavioral patterns.
- Marketing is about getting people ready for your product. Branding takes them away from the competition. Promotion creates a desire for it. Customer Service delivers value once they have bought it, while public relations builds loyalty to the company itself, its core belief system, and its vision.
Q4. What are their top three daily frustrations?
- They spend too much time finding the right sales leads.
- They can’t get enough qualified prospects at their fingertips anywhere or anytime. This is especially true in smaller companies with only one or two people handling marketing and sales.
- They struggle to find user attention
They will be your loyal buyer for life if you can help them solve these three daily frustrations!
Q5. What trends are occurring and will occur in their businesses or lives?
Trends in business
- Efficiency (i.e., useless labor force): I can use less labor force because I have been able to automate many tasks with technology.
- Automation (i.e., reduce labor): remove the human element to lower costs, improve quality, and eliminate unnecessary material handling.
- Reducing ordering frequency by faster fulfillment; improving customer service by real-time communication with customers that weren’t possible before the Internet of Things, etc.; self-serve computer kiosks that don’t require local employees because all transactions are done electronically without human contact; etc.
- Replace salespeople & unproductive tasks with technology/automation: automation reduces errors because there is no ‘gray’ or ambiguous area where someone can deliberately or accidentally make mistakes due to
Q6. What do they secretly, ardently desire most?
The more they succeed, the more nervous and miserable they feel. The ultimate solution is not to aim for money or fame but rather to be happy with who you are and what you do.
Money can buy happiness if used in ways that align with your gifts and passions. When we’re piling up riches just for the sake of it, we get into trouble: chasing an unquenchable fire never satisfied no matter how much we acquire. All this comes from a sense of identity based on scarcity and lack, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that there isn’t enough time or resources to live life fully. We know deep down inside that life is meant for much more than purchasing products.
Q7. Is there a bias in the way they make decisions?
They use more logic- or data-driven decisions. When making or evaluating an important decision, they will consider the following 4 criteria:
- They will weigh the risk-reward ratio heavily. The more uncertain I feel about this decision, the greater the perceived rewards need to be for me to make this decision.
- They will consider previous decisions that yielded positive or negative results and what alternative actions would have been undertaken if they knew it would go differently than expected.
- They are not above rehashing past mistakes – whether personally made by themselves or others they’ve observed – to avoid making similar mistakes again, doing things better next time, etc.
- Another question is titled ‘They keep their emotions out of important decisions, which is great because many founders struggle with rationalizing extremely emotional business or personal decisions.
Q8. Do they have their own language?
Having its own language is a big indicator of tribalism. The language part can be simple or complicated depending on the level of sophistication and abstraction, but it exists as a means to further differentiate from other tribes. I found an interesting follow-up question about the tribe’s ‘secret handshake’ that Dan Kennedy asked his audience at one of his speaking events:
Q9. Who else is selling something similar to them, and how?
A recent write-up by Thomas Davenport in the Harvard Business Review,’ Competing on Analytics, Data Mining, and Predictive Techniques, ‘led me to think about this. He says that businesses are using analytics in several ways :
For example, one company tracks how long it takes its customers to fill out online forms. They noticed that registered users took longer to submit their data when certain fields were livelier than others (for instance, when there were lots of competitors listed). The Product Manager changed the way people filled in these fields — for instance, showing only three competitors rather than five — thus reducing completion times. Understanding user behavior and simple implementation can save up to 10 hours of staff time per week on entering new orders into the system.
Q10. Who else has tried selling them something similar, and how has that effort failed?
I have been told that I should contact the [Insert company]. [Story of how their effort failed].
[Note: You can find a great example of this in ‘The Most Dangerous Business Book Ever Written’ by Guy Kawasaki. In one chapter, he tells a story about his previous venture and how it flopped.]
The ‘How did we get started?’ Story
This is an interesting question because people love to tell stories, and why not include something like this in your startup’s marketing material?
A growth team helps build rapport with the reader/listener you’re communicating with using effective campaign variations.
Measuring & Optimizing Customer Acquisition Strategies
One of the most critical factors in this process is ensuring that your customers are engaged with your brand. Engaged users are more likely to spend more, stay longer, and refer others to your business. By measuring and optimizing this metric, you can significantly increase your customer’s lifetime value.
One of the best ways to create engaged users is by providing excellent customer service. Your customer service reps and the customer service department as a whole play a vital role in creating a positive experience for your customers. When your customers have a great experience with your customer service team, they are more likely to become loyal customers and recommend your brand to others.
Email marketing is another powerful tool that you can use to create engaged users. By utilizing Campaign Monitor or other email marketing platforms, you can send targeted messages to your customers and keep them engaged with your brand over an extended period. This will help to keep your brand top-of-mind and increase the likelihood of customers returning to make additional purchases.
Product Managers and the product team should also focus on user metrics such as active users and mobile users. By understanding how your customers are using your product, you can optimize your offering to keep them engaged and satisfied. Positive user onboarding experiences are also crucial for creating engaged users. By ensuring that customers have a seamless and enjoyable experience when they first start using your product, you can create a positive association with your brand that will carry over throughout their customer journey.
In summary, measuring and optimizing customer acquisition strategies is crucial for the success of your business. By focusing on creating engaged users through excellent customer service, email marketing, user metrics, and positive user onboarding experiences, you can significantly increase your customer’s lifetime value. Remember, excellence is the key to creating a positive experience for your customers. By maintaining an encouraging and supportive tone, you can inspire and uplift your customers, which will ultimately lead to their satisfaction and loyalty to your brand.
Reaching Out to Potential Customers Through Strategic Networking Efforts
Reaching out to potential customers through strategic networking efforts can be a highly effective way to increase revenue and revenue retention. However, businesses need to implement a comprehensive user strategy that includes a deep understanding of user metrics, the coefficient between user behaviors, the impact of user onboarding, and product-led user experiences.
One of the first steps to reaching potential customers through strategic networking is obtaining their email addresses. Building an email list is crucial for businesses to communicate with potential customers directly. Email marketing campaigns can be tailored to different user segments, providing a more personalized experience that can lead to an increase in revenue.
The coefficient between user behaviors can help businesses identify patterns in user behavior that can be used to create targeted marketing campaigns. By analyzing user data, businesses can gain insights into how users interact with their products and services. This information can be used to create more effective messaging that resonates with potential customers, leading to a higher conversion rate.
The impact of user onboarding is another crucial element of a user strategy. Businesses need to ensure that users have a smooth and straightforward onboarding experience that sets them up for success. A positive onboarding experience can lead to a more engaged user base, resulting in increased revenue and revenue retention.
Product-led user experiences are also critical for reaching potential customers through strategic networking efforts. Businesses must focus on delivering a product that is intuitive and easy to use, ensuring that users have a positive experience from the outset. A well-designed product can create a sense of loyalty among registered users, leading to a long-term revenue boost.
The Customer Journey Builder is a useful tool for businesses looking to implement a user strategy. This tool allows businesses to map out the customer journey, identifying areas where potential customers may experience frustration or drop-off. Addressing these pain points can lead to a more positive user experience, increased revenue, and revenue retention.
In conclusion, reaching out to potential customers through strategic networking efforts requires businesses to implement a comprehensive user strategy that includes email marketing, analyzing user behavior, user onboarding, and product-led user experiences. By using the Customer Journey Builder and other tools, businesses can create a seamless user experience that leads to an increase in revenue and revenue retention.
Tools and Resources for Reaching New Prospects & Building Relationships
When looking to expand your customer base and build lasting relationships, it is essential to use the right tools and resources. By focusing on user onboarding improvements, understanding the user journey, and utilizing metrics to measure your progress, you can create a positive user experience that leads to increased customer loyalty.
Firstly, user onboarding improvements play a critical role in the overall customer experience. By ensuring that new users have a seamless and enjoyable introduction to your product or service, you can create a strong foundation for a lasting relationship. This involves evaluating the current user baseline and identifying any areas where the onboarding process can be improved. By focusing on user metrics, such as response times and time spent on each step of the onboarding process, you can pinpoint the areas where the most significant impact can be made.
Another essential aspect of building relationships with new prospects is understanding and optimizing the user journey. This involves mapping out the entire customer experience, from the initial point of contact to the final conversion. By analyzing the various touchpoints along the way, you can identify opportunities to enhance the customer experience and build stronger relationships.
Consistently engaging with prospects and customers over an extended period is crucial for building and maintaining relationships. One effective way to do this is through email marketing. By collecting email addresses from prospects and customers, you can send targeted messages that keep them engaged with your brand and provide valuable information that adds value to their experience.
The customer journey should not be a one-way street. It is important to gather customer feedback to continually improve your product or service offering. This feedback can be collected through surveys, reviews, or direct communication with customers. By actively seeking customer feedback and implementing changes based on their input, you can demonstrate your commitment to their satisfaction and, in turn, foster customer loyalty.
Why Finding Your Customers is Important and What You Can Achieve
As a business owner or marketer, finding your customers is crucial for success. By knowing who your customers are, what they want, and how they behave, you can create targeted marketing campaigns that drive sales and improve customer loyalty. To do this, it’s important to provide excellent customer service, such as responding to inquiries and complaints in a timely manner. Collecting customer data, including their email addresses, can also help you stay in touch and build relationships. Utilizing email marketing platforms like Campaign Monitor can help with managing and analyzing your email campaigns to better understand your audience’s behavior and preferences. Additionally, focusing on product-led user experiences, such as creating a stellar user onboarding process, can help improve app user retention rates and overall customer satisfaction. By developing a user strategy and tracking your user retention rate chart, you can identify areas where you need to improve and create a customer scenario that optimizes gains in revenue. With the help of a customer service agent, and monthly emails with effective email design, you can keep your customers engaged and informed, leading to long-term success for your business.
Finding and understanding your customers is a crucial aspect of any successful business. To achieve this, companies must implement multichannel campaigns that utilize various marketing channels and tools, such as Campaign Manager. For product-led businesses, understanding customer behavior is vital in optimizing product-led growth strategies. Google My Business is also a valuable tool for gaining visibility and attracting potential customers by showcasing business hours and core values. In addition, tracking user metrics and app-specific user actions can help businesses identify the biggest impact areas and potential areas for improvement. Excellent customer service, including maintaining a responsive customer service department and collecting customer email addresses, can also be a game-changer in achieving gains in revenue. By understanding your customers and tailoring your approach to meet their needs, businesses can set themselves up for long-term success.
A higher market fit score indicates that your product or service closely aligns with your users’ needs, leading to greater customer satisfaction and retention.
Capturing users’ attention during the onboarding period is crucial for establishing a strong foundation for long-term retention. The first phase of retention relies heavily on providing a seamless and enjoyable user experience. By employing regression analysis and predictive analytics tools, you can accurately identify areas of improvement in the onboarding process and optimize the user experience.
Segmenting audiences based on their usage patterns, preferences, and demographics allows you to better understand your customer base and tailor your marketing and product development strategies accordingly. This targeted approach enables you to cater to the unique needs of each customer segment, leading to increased satisfaction and retention.
The Product-Led Growth Flywheel is a strategic framework that focuses on harnessing user engagement to drive growth. By assembling a dedicated growth team, you can create a growth engine that continually optimizes your product and marketing initiatives based on user feedback and data analysis. This approach ensures that your business remains agile and responsive to customer needs and market trends.
Maintaining an up-to-date contact database is crucial for ongoing communication and engagement with your customers. Scheduling regular follow-ups and check-ins, such as every month for contacts, keeps your business top-of-mind and demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction. This ongoing interaction helps foster long-term relationships and loyalty.
Monitoring retention over time and analyzing the period between weeks, months, or other specified intervals allows you to gauge the effectiveness of your customer retention strategies. By continuously evaluating and adjusting these strategies based on data-driven insights, you can ensure that your business remains competitive and continues to grow.
In conclusion, finding your customers and understanding their behaviors is vital for the success of your business. By focusing on the entire retention curve, patterns of usage, market fit scores, and employing data analysis tools, you can optimize your product or service to cater to your users’ needs, foster long-term relationships, and achieve sustainable growth.
