The customer's path

Finding the current

Finding demand is the difference between being stuck in quicksand versus swimming with a fast-moving current.

The main misconception that PREVENTS us from finding demand and fast-moving water is a classic MBA one: We do a bunch of analysis and thinking to conjure the business we think should exist - one that makes a ton of business sense in our brains - and then go try to PUSH that business onto the world.

Prospective customers hear what we’re doing and say:

And it doesn’t matter how pretty our website is, how fancy marketing material we have, or what elite seller we hire. It just won’t work.

The way out of this misconception is to realize that customers have their own direction. They have their own projects, initiatives, goals, etc. They are on a particular path that we do not control. It looks like this:

If we show up with something that HELPS them on their path, they will generally PULL (and we don’t have to push). Unfortunately, we tend to show up doing something like this:

We don’t know to look for their path and projects. We’re taught to probe for pain points and problems, evangelize our solution. This feels like a Novocain-free root canal to the customer, and it feels like we’re trying to navigate through quicksand on our end. This is all because we are trying to drag them off their path, without realizing we’re doing it.

Instead… the answer is to figure out where the customer is trying to go. Then, design an elegant solution that helps them there, better than their alternatives. Then, replicate.

Isn’t this fun?!?!?!

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PS:

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• Always feel free to submit questions / topics for me to write about by emailing me at rob@reframeb2b.com!!