Startup Customer Discovery: What Would Make You Change Your Mind?
Before a founder goes out to talk to customers, I sometimes ask a slightly uncomfortable question:
“What could a customer tell you that would make you change your mind?”
The answer is often surprisingly difficult. I have asked this question often enough to notice a pattern.
We talk a lot about customer discovery and validation. But sometimes, without realising it, we go into the conversation with a conclusion already in our heads. We listen for the things that support it.
A customer says the problem is real.
We feel encouraged.
Someone says they would be interested in the solution.
We feel even better.
Three or four people say something similar.
Now we are convinced.
But what if the customer says something that challenges our thinking?
Do we take that seriously?
Or do we explain it away? We might say:
“They are not the right customer.”
“They don’t understand the problem.”
“They are different from the segment we are targeting.”
There is nothing wrong with being confident about an idea. But if nothing a customer can say would make us reconsider it, are we really discovering anything?
Perhaps a better question to carry into a customer conversation is NOT:
“How can I validate my idea?”
but:
“What could I learn that might make me change it?”
Because sometimes the most valuable customer conversation is the one that makes you a little less certain.
