The Mom Test — how to talk to customers and learn if your business is a good idea when everybody is lying to you.
I read the book because we are trying to build something for the makers that would help them be more productive and avoid procrastination. In order to succeed with the project we thought we need to start asking good questions.
I knew the concept of the Moms Test already from the University but it was just the main concept.
Now, after I read the book, it's clear how to talk to your future customers.
Here are my takeaways.
The Mom Test:
1.Talk about their life instead of your idea
2. Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future
3.Talk less and listen more
It boils down to this: you aren’t allowed to tell them what their problem is, and in return, they aren’t allowed to tell you what to build. They own the problem, you own the solution.
The big mistake is almost always to mention your idea too soon rather than too late. If you just avoid mentioning your idea, you automatically start asking better questions. Doing this is the easiest (and biggest) improvement you can make to your customer conversations.
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?
Getting back on track (avoiding bad data):
1. Deflect compliments
2. Anchor fluff
3. Dig beneath opinions, ideas, requests, and emotions
Mistakes and symptoms:
X. Fishing for compliments “I’m thinking of starting a business… so, do you think it will work?”
“I had an awesome idea for an app — do you like it?”
X. Exposing your ego (aka The Pathos Problem)
“So here’s that top-secret project I quit my job for… what do you think?” “I can take it — be honest and tell me what you really think!”
Being pitchy →
— “No no, I don’t think you get it…”
— “Yes, but it also does this!”X. Being too formal
— “So, first off, thanks for agreeing to this interview. I just have a few questions for you and then I’ll let you get back to your day…”
— “On a scale of 1 to 5, how much would you say you…”
— “Let’s set up a meeting.”X. Being a learning bottleneck
— “You just worry about the product. I’ll learn what we need to know.”
— “Because the customers told me so!”
— “I don’t have time to talk to people — I need to be coding!X. Collecting compliments instead of facts and commitments
— “We’re getting a lot of positive feedback.”
— “Everybody I’ve talked to loves the idea.”X.The process before, during and after the meeting:
— If you haven’t yet, choose a focused, findable segment
— With your team, decide your big 3 learning goals
— If relevant, decide on ideal next steps and commitments
— If conversations are the right tool, figure out who to talk to
— Create a series of best guesses about what the person cares about
— If a question could be answered via desk research, do that first
— Frame the conversation
— Keep it casual
— Ask good questions which pass The Mom Test
— Deflect compliments, anchor fluff, and dig beneath signals
— Take good notes
— If relevant, press for commitment and next steps
— With your team, review your notes and key customer quotes
— If relevant, transfer notes into permanent storage
— Update your beliefs and plans
— Decide on the next 3 big questions R
X. Results of a good meeting:
— Facts — concrete, specific facts about what they do and why they do it (as opposed to the bad data of compliments, fluff, and opinions)
— Commitment — They are showing they’re serious by giving up something they value such as meaningful amounts of time, reputational risk, or money.
— Advancement — They are moving to the next step of your real-world funnel and getting closer to a sale.
RULES OF THUMB
Rule of thumb: Opinions are worthless.
Rule of thumb: Anything involving the future is an over-optimistic lie.
Rule of thumb: Watching someone do a task will show you where the problems and inefficiencies really are, not where the customer thinks they are.
Rule of thumb: If they haven’t looked for ways of solving it already, they’re not going to look for (or buy) yours.
Rule of thumb: If you’ve mentioned your idea, people will try to protect your feelings.
Rule of thumb: The more you’re talking, the worse you’re doing.
Rule of thumb: There’s more reliable information in a “meh” than a “Wow!” You can’t build a business on a lukewarm response.
Rule of thumb: You always need a list of your 3 big questions.
Rule of thumb: Learning about a customer and their problems works better as a quick and casual chat than a long, formal meeting.
Rule of thumb: If it feels like they’re doing you a favor by talking to you, it’s probably too formal.
Rule of thumb: Give as little information as possible about your idea while still nudging the discussion in a useful direction.
Rule of thumb: If you don’t know what happens next after a product or sales meeting, the meeting was pointless.
Rule of thumb: It’s not a real lead until you’ve given them a concrete chance to reject you.
Rule of thumb: In early stage sales, the real goal is learning. Revenue is just a side-effect.
Rule of thumb: If you aren’t finding consistent problems and goals, you don’t yet have a specific enough customer segment.
Rule of thumb: If you don’t know what you’re trying to learn, you shouldn’t bother having the conversation.
Rule of thumb: Notes are useless if you don’t look at them.
Rule of thumb: It’s going to be okay.
Questions to dig into feature requests:
“Why do you want that?”
“What would that let you do?”
“How are you coping without it?”
“Do you think we should push back the launch add that feature, or is it something we could add later?”
“How would that fit into your day?”
Questions to dig into emotional signals:
“Tell me more about that.”
“That seems to really bug you — I bet there’s a story here.”
“What makes it so awful?”
“Why haven’t you been able to fix this already?”
“You seem pretty excited about that — it’s a big deal?”
“Why so happy?” “Go on.”
The best way to find them is to run thought experiments. Imagine that the company has failed and ask why that happened. Then imagine it as a huge success and ask what had to be true to get there. Find ways to learn about those critical pieces.
Every time you talk to someone, you should be asking a question which has the potential to completely destroy your currently imagined business.
Love bad news → One of the reasons we avoid important question is because asking them is scary. It can bring us the upsetting realization that our favorite idea is fundamentally flawed. Or that the major client is never going to buy. Although it seems unfortunate, this we need to learn to love bad news. It’s solid learning and is getting us closer to the truth.
Similarly, if you have an exciting idea for a new product and go talk to a couple customers who don’t actually care about it, then that’s a great result. You just saved yourself however much time and money it would have cost to try building and selling it. We go through the futile process of asking for opinions and fish for compliments because we crave approval. We want to believe that the support and sign-off of someone we respect means our venture will succeed. But really, that person’s opinion doesn’t matter. They have no idea if the business is going to work. Only the market knows. You’re searching for the truth, not trying to be right. And you want to do it as quickly and cheaply as possible. Learning that your beliefs are wrong is frustrating, but it’s progress. It’s bringing you ever closer to the truth of a real problem and a good market. The worst thing you can do is ignore the bad news while searching for some tiny grain of validation to celebrate. You want the truth, not a gold star.
I know one team who successfully used cold LinkedIn messages to reach C-level execs of several major UK retailers. They were ignored by practically every exec in the country, but you only need one to say “yes” to start the intro train.
When we look at the big successes, they seem to serve the whole world. Google lets anyone find anything. Paypal helps anyone send money anywhere. Evernote backs up all the writing of everybody. But they didn’t start there. If you start too generic, everything is watered down. Your marketing message is generic. You suffer feature creep.
Google helped PhD students find obscure bits of code. EBay helped collectors buy and sell Pez dispensers. Evernote helped moms save and share recipes.
You’ll want even more specific segmentation for your conversations than for your whole business. Going out and talking to people is that it takes time. If you talk to five people who each have different goals, you’re going to get mixed signals which don’t give you the confidence you need to move forward.
When the feedback is all over the map, it’s really hard to extract value. Once you get specific, you can learn.
Your most important preparation work is to ensure you know your current list of 3 big questions. Figure them out with your team and make a point to face the scary questions.
A good question to ask yourself about your own company → If this company were to fail, why would it have happened? What would have to be true for this to be a huge success?
Just like prepping, reviewing is so simple that it sounds like a non-step. It’s tempting to skip it. Don’t! The review is important. Disseminate learnings to your team as quickly and as directly as possible, using notes and exact quotes wherever you can. It keeps you in sync, leads to better decisions, prevents arguments, and allows your whole team to benefit from the learning you’ve worked so hard to acquire.
You can’t outsource or hire someone to do customer learning. There are exceptional team dynamics where it works, but generally speaking, the founders need to be in the meetings themselves.
On the bright side, even though you have to be in the room to process the learning, you don’t necessarily have to be the one setting up or leading the meetings. You can hire people to help as long as you’re there with them, listening.
I make tons of mistakes. At least now I notice and have a chance to fix them. Most bad conversations can be fixed. You’re trying to do something difficult. You’re never going to be perfect, but it always helps to be better.
By asking good questions, we can fix many flawed ideas before they get us in trouble. But still, sometimes it doesn’t work out. It’s okay.
Eternity will forgive our earthly blunders. Everyone loves an entrepreneur. After all, you’re putting it on the line to try and make their lives better.
