Who are you selling to?
I’m selling an app to young people to read XYZ online.
How old are your young customers?
They are between 18 and 35 years old.
Why would they use your app?
Because young people today use smartphones a lot, and they really want to read XYZ on their handheld devices.
Why do you think they will pay for your app?
Because my app is very useful and has features A, B, and C.
What do you notice from this conversation?
This is a typical conversation we often encounter with startup founders. The lack of clarity about the customer persona makes many startups unsure about who they are targeting, what they need to do to reach them, and they end up focusing too much on product features to convince customers. According to CBInsights.com (a data analytics company for the tech market in the US), one of the top 10 reasons for startup failure is the "failure to address the customer," meaning you are stuck in an isolated bubble, serving an imagined need of an imagined customer.
So, how should we change?
We would like to introduce a simple yet highly effective tool to help entrepreneurs accurately define who they are serving and what they need to do to serve them better.
Follow along from left to right, top to bottom in the simple diagram below with four boxes, and carry out each step.
Step 1: Imagine your customer (on a specific date, month, year).
The reason you must specify a date is that everything will change as you make further discoveries.
Step 2: Be specific and involve your entire team in the process.
If possible, have each person or department in the company create a different version of the persona. The only requirement is: Draw the persona and characteristics of the most likely customer your company is targeting.
Step 3: Start with the question WHO? – Who are they?
For example: If your company sells organic products, you might think that the customer is a housewife.
To answer specifically, give your customer a name and a specific occupation, remembering that the more detailed, the better, regarding demographic information and characteristics.
Example:
Name: Mai, 35 years old
Occupation: Bank employee
Graduated from the University of Banking
Income: About 12 million VND/month
Married, with two children (a 4-year-old and a 10-year-old)
At this point, you might wonder, "I don’t just sell to Mai, but also to others like Dao, who works for the government..." Don’t worry about this too much. Focus on the most likely customer who can sustain your business. You will have the opportunity to refine and add more customer personas later.
Step 4: Focus on their pain points.
Start by putting yourself in their shoes with questions like:
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I feel uncomfortable when I have to eat unsafe food.
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I’m tired of searching for clean food sources.
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I feel worried when even certified clean vegetables are being faked.
Step 5: Observe the behavior of your potential customers and fill in the second box. Imagine how they are trying to solve their problems.
Examples:
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I often ask my friends how to find trustworthy organic products.
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I ask my relatives in the countryside to bring them to me.
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I often look online to learn how to identify different types of vegetables.
Step 6: Put yourself in their shoes and think about what they want to achieve with your solution.
Examples:
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I’ll be happy if the product is genuinely safe for my family.
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I will save a lot of time by not having to search for and order vegetables every day.
After completing these six steps, you will have a detailed persona for your customer. However, this is still your imagination. Try comparing it with what other team members think, and you will realize that the group might be targeting different customer segments. This poses a risk when selling because if you are not targeting the same goal, how do you know you’re selling to the right person?
Step 7: Take your team outside and interview people like "Mai" and others who resemble her.
Alternatively, use a landing page (a simple online page with your product’s value proposition, benefits, and a call to action) to provide basic information about your product/service to see which audience is most interested and likely to purchase.
Of course, you have many ways to test the market and determine your customer segments. However, there are principles you should always remember: Visualize your target audience specifically. Once you’ve formed a clear customer persona and tested it thoroughly, display it prominently in the company where everyone can see and understand who you are targeting. This will make everything easier to visualize for every team member, turning everyone into a salesperson and marketer for your company.
For a startup, telling a great story is a technique to attract investors. Imagine how dull and unconvincing your story would be without a specific character facing very human problems. Trust me, if you have a persona like "Mai," there will definitely be 1,000 people like her – your first early adopters! And if there are millions of people like "Mai," that’s the foundation for you to tell a compelling story to potential investors!
Author: Nguyễn Đặng Tuấn Minh – Managing Director & Co-founder of KisStartup
Source: Tia Sáng
