Loading...
Answers
MenuHow do we pick which customer segment to pursue after finalizing 10 interviews in each of 4 segments?
We are working with a health accelerator now and we are doing customer discovery interviews this week and next, employer/payer/retail/health system, how do we decide which is the best market segment to pursue?
Answers
I think what Frank says is absolutely spot-on with one exception. In healthcare, you might not have as much choice as you think. Ultimately, if you are dependent on adoption of your solution by multiple stakeholders, you should engage early and equally with all stakeholders so as to understand the eventual objections you'll have to overcome and hopefully acquire some early evangelists but focus on where there is least resistance to try and build a forcing function that reduces resistance to the change you're trying to make.
I built an online service in the late 90s that was sold to employers and adopted by individual employees. The Company was subsequently acquired so happy to talk to share that experience with you in a call.
In my Customer Factory Marketing Model I have a technique I call creating your Prime Client Profile. Your most profitable target markets will be those who: 1) Have a need most directly in alignment with your solution; 2) You can most readily communicate with; 3) Most clearly see and/or are looking for your unique offering; 3) Are the most ready, willing and able to pay; 4) Are actively looking for a new or alternative cure for their pain.
I hope these general guiding principals are of some help. Without more information regarding your business or offering I can't be much more specific. Good luck!
Frank
In The Lean Entrepreneur I discuss how to create a segment matrix: put your different segments in rows (hopefully these are NARROWLY defined!); in columns, come up with salient criteria to measure segment worthiness. It's ultimately up to you, but might include "Depth of Need", Budget, "Ease of Reach" (marketing), etc. Could even include things like "Matches Values." Be sure to write in such a way that a High-Medium-Low ranking is consistent across criteria. In other words a High Depth of Need is a good thing, so other high scores must be a "good" indicator. Rank each segment in the criteria High, Medium, or Low. It's OK to guess at this point, but your customer discovery should attempt to validate the values. It's likely that 1 or 2 segments will rise to the top.
I have over 17 years experience working in and owning several businesses in the medical / healthcare field. As well I do / have done consulting with hundreds of other healthcare businesses.
I would be happy to share my insights with you. Your question would require more clarification (for me) and as such I would certainly be willing to offer a free initial call to gain this clarity and see if I can be of assistance.
Shoot me a message if you are interested in talking and I'll set up a code for that free initial call.
In any case...Best of luck!
Related Questions
-
How should I structure a customer meeting when doing customer development?
Steve Blank has already covered this in depth in his book 4 Steps to the Epiphany, as well as a video here: http://startupweekend.wistia.com/medias/tao3s8hf7l My approach is based on his outline, with a twist. 1) I try and conduct the interviews at the customers office or place of work, at minimum on their devide (computer, mobile phone) so I can ask to see how they work. 2) I never try and sell them on a the solution, but work hard to truly understand if/where the problem is. 3) Always provide guidance to the conversation, but ask open ended questions. 4) Ask questions like "What do you do 3 minutes before, and after, you do that action (or use our product)? Other tips would be - Write down the words they use. Metaphors and taxonomies are VERY important to ensuring your product is approachable. - Use 3 simple slides: Problem, Current Solutions, Proposed Solution Hope that helps.Dan MartellDM
-
We are trying to decide between a presales strategy and free/freemium app store launch for our mhealth self management app. Which should we pursue?
It really depends on whether this is ultimately a top-down or bottom-up approach and to what extent the end-user experience is compelling enough to act as a forcing function to enterprise adoption. A bottom-up distributed mobile app must be both viral and incredible engaging. Without proof that you have that (or absent proof, strong conviction) most are better off attempting to sell top-down. Happy to talk this through in a callTom WilliamsTW
-
How to incentivise future distribution partners to sign non-binding Letters of Intent for a physical product not yet manufactured, 3-5 y. life cycle?
I'd avoid the cold email. The best way to get inside big companies like distributors is to "social engineer" a connection to someone there. Find a 2nd or 3rd degree connection on LinkedIn. Hang out at a restaurant near their HQ and look for people with the right badge on. Ask your potential angel for help connecting you. If they can't, they might not be the right investor for your company at this stage. Their investment should get you more than money, it should come with connections, advice and mentoring. Basically, there's no easy way to do this and every situation is different but it's going to take a lot more than a cold email or phone call.Andrew WatsonAW
-
What are ways to find and engage B2B beta users for a brand new application?
Find apps that are B2B and go to the review sections. Specifically going to Google's play or Chrome store and look at reviews and follow them to Google+ to engage. I took that same angle for B2C app I was building last year. Check it out. http://blendah.com/post/37331434653/lean-startup-hackTom MasieroTM
-
What's your advice for drilling down on use-case for our real time communications iPad app for co-viewing docs together?
Hmmm? This is a tough one because your product is so wonderfully horizontal, meaning it applies to a very broad set of cases. I'd slice and dice in two directions. First, I'd think about the general process of collaboration on a document, for example: a) drafting - are two people actually writing the words together? I personally don't like this. b) first read through together staying on the same sentence or page, c) editing together, etc. Second, I'd think about industries or verticals or contexts, such as in a Legal setting, in a Tech Documentation setting, in a coding or XP dual programming setting, in a social media post drafting setting, and so forth. Check out: https://medium.com/look-what-i-made/fd48c3b412bc Seems to be evocative of what you're doing, but targeted to one specific use case of "pair programming".Bob BethBB
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.
