For startups (or any stage businesses really) getting your customers to give up time to interview can be hard. But it's critical for feedback on new ideas or features.
Even if you’ve got tens- or hundreds of thousands of businesses, these days you need to put in effort and creativity to find the right ones.
Without offering hundreds to just speak with each customer (which is still challenging, time-consuming, and you’ll probably still struggle to get 5+ ideal customers to chat with) what else can you do?
What if I said surveys?
Huh, but you said customer interviews?
Wait- let me explain.
There’s a very specific survey technique I've found that works like a charm.
I’ve successfully done this three times now, and it’s generated a heap of contacts every time.
As the saying goes, one is a fluke, two is a coincidence and three is a conspiracy.
Let’s debunk this conspiracy then…
Firstly, this is what this survey process gets you:
- Insights on the customer base- at scale
- Screening of candidates to find your ideal customer profile
- Tonnes of customers letting you know they’re interested in chatting further
- Contact information from most respondents
- Leads for your sales team (if that’s what you’re going for)
How do I run it? Here’s the step-by-step process.
- Run a competition. A few hundred bucks on offer tor successfully competing the survey. Draw a winner at random at the conclusion of the completion period. Use your email list, in app or socials To blast it out on one day. Oh, and don’t forget to include T&C’s.
Why a competition? People love them. Especially when there’s only a handful of questions. Which leads me to the next step...
- Ask ~6 questions. I like to use Typeform to create surveys as it has question branching and it’s pretty easy to use. Paperform also works well too.
Why only 6-ish questions? I've found this is the sweet spot. Calling out the number of questions upfront sets expectations of a quick completion, for an easy entry. Also you should be able to get the key info you need with multi-choice, free text and other question types when asking around 6 questions in the survey.
- So here's the secret- At the end of survey, ask if they want a call about X new feature/ product/ service. Make sure you position it as either a sales or research call so you set expectations.
Why does this work? Users are already invested, and with the questions asked previously you’re screening them out to find those that are really keen. And if none are keen? Awesome, you’ve just saved yourself hundreds of dollars or months building the wrong thing.
- Ask for their contact info at the end of the survey.
Pretty self explanatory, but if someone wins you need to know where to send the prize, but you’re also getting these details to contact them as a lead/ interview. Make this one optional to still get the survey responses. I've found most still ad their contact info as they want to be in the prize draw.
Hey, I don’t have a list, you ask? What can I do?
Why not borrow someone else’s. An influencer, adjacent business, blog with relevant audience, etc. it might cost you a little, but to get both survey validation & leads, it’s a worthy investment.
I’ve found this to work for three different businesses, and I’ll definitely be using it again.
Next time you’re looking to speak to your customers, give this technique a shot.
For the cost of a small prize, you might find yourself with a heap of survey results, verified leads, or customers keen to chat about your next feature.
