Tips on choosing your customer learning method

Trevor Owens, founder of Lean Startup Machine, recently wrote a great post where he details 3 methods of customer learning: exploration, pitching and concierge.  This is consistent with the principle of Learn, then Confirm, which works beyond entrepreneurship - in science, design, and even espionage.

I thought it'd be useful to help you choose which method is appropriate.

Exploration (Learn, aka Customer Discovery)

• if you have an early idea for a solution
• if your customers aren't biting your arm off and chasing you for your product
• if you're not sure where you need to be to make new customers aware of you
• if you don't know what budget you belong to, or who else in the organisation can affect your sales
• if you don't know how to segment your customers based on behaviour or job-to-be-done
• if you're not confident how consistent your problems are within your target segment

Pitch (Confirm, aka Customer Validation)

• if you have an idea of how and when people will buy from you
• if you have an idea of when customers start looking for a solution, and where they look

Concierge (Learn or Confirm)

• if you're confident in the customer segment to target, but less sure about exactly how to help them
• if building the solution will take time and there are still unknown unknowns in terms of how customers will use it
• if you have an idea for a solution but don't know the exact customer context or job-to-be-done

Choosing your learning method starts with understanding you big picture so you know you're investing your time effectively. You can use the Business Model Canvas, Pirate Metrics or Growth Engines to help you. Then, choosing between Trevor's 3 learning methods is clear.

Our events

If you'd like to experience Lean Startup methods in a safe environment, Trevor's  Lean Startup Machine is a fun way to spend your weekend.

If you have a startup idea and want to beef up your Lean Startup skills with face-to-face training - including learning methods, Customer Development techniques and experiment design - invest a day in a Founder Centric workshop, which I run with Rob Fitzpatrick.

If you have Lean Startup or related experience, and want to trade notes with other founders, host or participate in a Leancamp near you.

(They're a great combination btw!)