Over the past 6 months, I’ve begun to make some really great contacts within the multifamily housing industry (MFI). Some are local and we’ve met in person, and some live across the country, and we’ve only ever communicated digitally(internet/email/SM - not even sure what they look like!). With every new individual I meet, I always take the same fundamental approach - what can I learn from this person today? In an industry so large, with such a wide breadth of individuals with experience and knowledge on topics that I’m just beginning to comprehend, my goal at this point is simply to be a sponge, and pick up as much insight as they can offer. Fortunately, almost every single person I’ve interacted with thus far has been very welcoming, and earnest to learn what we’re working on. They’ve all offered very constructive feedback, and honest opinions as to how they see us best moving forward. Now, I could just be lucky to be starting a business in an industry overflowing with open minded, welcoming individuals, but I’d like to think that part of it relates back to my basic approach - what can I learn from this person today?
How do you approach your potential customers? Do you believe that your product is “what’s best for them”, and then try to convince them why you’re right, even when they balk at your initial pitch? Do you patiently listen to their objections, and then just revert back to your sales pitch to “overcome them”?
Or, do you approach your customers with an open mind and the realization that in this new era of business, “customer first” really means “go talk to your customers first!”? Steve Blank’s insightful theory on customer development tells us that if you’re building a product solely based on internal assumptions, and not within an actual customer feedback loop, that you’re more than likely to end up with a product that nobody will actually want to use(or pay for) when you launch it. We all have our assumptions about what we want to build, and how we envision it working, but in today’s world, what WE want to build is really not that important at all. In my opinion, it’s what your CUSTOMERS WANT YOU TO BUILD that is the key to a successful product.
So as we continue down the road of product development, we’re actively participating in customer development as well - and that means a whole lot of listening(and learning). Hopefully it will pay off - only time will tell! Until then, I challenge you to ask yourself and your team - are we listening to our customers? Or are we just fooling ourselves into thinking we actually know what they want?
