Too busy to read?

When testing leap-of-faith assumptions, it's tempting to ask customers directly what they want, either through individual customer interviews, a focus group, or a survey. Many of us were taught to do this kind of market research. But there's a problem with this approach: people often think they know what they want, but it turns out that they're wrong.1 That's why the College Scorecard team went out to the Washington Mall not with a survey but with a prototype product. They could observe what customers actually did with it. The reason to run experiments is to discover customers' revealed preferences through their behavior. In other words, don't ask customers what they want. Design experiments that allow you to observe it.

Every time you answer the phone, it's marketing. Every time you send an e-mail, it's marketing. Every time someone uses your product, it's marketing. Every word you write on your Web site is marketing. If you build software, every error message is marketing. If you're in the restaurant business, the after-dinner mint is marketing. If you're in the retail business, the checkout counter is marketing. If you're in a service business, your invoice is marketing.

Thus, the Entrepreneurial Model does not start with a picture of the business to be created but of the customer for whom the business is to be created. It understands that without a clear picture of that customer, no business can succeed.

That applies to the language you use everywhere--in e-mail, packaging, interviews, blog posts, presentations, etc. Talk to customers the way you would to friends. Explain things as if you were sitting next to them. Avoid jargon or any sort of corporate-speak.

Never forget that absolutely everything you do is for your customers. Make every decision--even decisions about whether to expand the business, raise money, or promote someone--according to what's best for your customers. If you're ever unsure what to prioritize, just ask your customers the open-ended question, "How can I best help you now?" Then focus on satisfying those requests.

There are three common ways to Segment customer data: Past Performance, Demographics, and Psychographics.