📔 Book: The Mom Test: how to talk to customers and learn if your business is a good idea when everybody is lying to you

Author:: Rob Fitzpatrick

LANGUAGE:: en

Book Link:: Apple Books Link

🔍 Notes

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  • 🎯You might ask them to show you how they currently do it. Talk about which parts they love and hate. Ask which other tools and processes they tried before settling on this one. Are they actively searching for a replacement? If so, what’s the sticking point? If not, why not? Where are they losing money with their current tools? Is there a budget for better ones? Now, take all that information and decide for yourself whether it’s a good idea
  • 🎯Ask how they currently solve X and how much it costs them to do so. And how much time it takes. Ask them to talk you through what happened the last time X came up. If they haven’t solved the problem, ask why not. Have they tried searching for solutions and found them wanting? Or do they not even care enough to have Googled for it? ^cae5ba
  • 🎯Who else should I talk to?"Good question. Yes! End every conversation like this. Lining up the first few conversations can be challenging, but if you’re onto something interesting and treating people well, your leads will quickly multiply via intros.  ^a6ce2e
  • 🎯"Is there anything else I should have asked?"Good question. Usually, by the end of the meeting, people understand what you’re trying to do.
  • 🎯Rule of thumb: The more you’re talking, the worse you’re doing
  • 🎯You: What are your big problems with marketing? We can immediately zoom in on the problem if we are 100% certain it’s a must-solve problem which people are ready to pay for.Versus:You: What are your big problems right now? If we aren’t sure it’s a must-solve problem, we start more generic to see if they care at all about the problem category, in which case they’ll mention it.
  • 🎯Does-this-problem-matter” questions: “How seriously do you take your blog?”  “Do you make money from it?” “Have you tried making more money from it?” “How much time do you spend on it each week?” “Do you have any major aspirations for your blog?” “Which tools and services do you use for it?” “What are you already doing to improve this?” “What are the 3 big things you’re trying to fix or improve right now?”
  • 🎯Prepare your list of 3Always pre-plan the 3 most important things you want to learn from any given type of person
  • 🎯3 separate meetings: the first about the customer and their problem; the second about your solution; and the third to sell a product. By splitting the meetings, you avoid the premature zoom and biasing them with your ideas.
  • 🎯Rule of thumb: Learning about a customer and their problems works better as a quick and casual chat than a long, formal meeting
  • 🎯Hey Pete, I'm trying to make desk & office rental less of a pain for new businesses (vision). We're just starting out and don't have anything to sell, but want to make sure we're building something that actually helps (framing). I've only ever come at it from the tenant's side and I'm having a hard time understanding how it all works from the landlord's perspective (weakness). You've been renting out desks for a while and could really help me cut through the fog (pedestal).