Run Five Customer Conversations Before Building More

Research before pitching

Five conversations are a starting exercise, not a statistically representative sample. The purpose is to hear how potential buyers describe the problem and what they already do about it. Choose people who fit the intended customer, not only friends who want to encourage you.

Use questions about experience

• Tell me about the last time this problem happened.
• What did you do to handle it?
• What took the most time or effort?
• Have you paid for help or tried another solution?
• What would make a solution useful enough to consider?

Keep observation separate from interpretation

After each conversation, record the person’s language with permission, the current workaround, and the unanswered questions. Label your interpretation separately. ‘They spent two hours organizing files’ is a different observation from ‘they would definitely buy my service.’

If you explain an offer, make its scope and price clear. A compliment is not a purchase commitment. A request for more detail is interest that deserves follow-up, not booked revenue.

Review patterns, then change one thing

Look for repeated problems, differences among buyers, and objections you had not considered. Decide which assumption needs another conversation or a small paid pilot. Avoid changing the audience, price, and deliverable simultaneously if you want to understand what affected the response. Market research helps you learn; it does not remove uncertainty.