Forget stealth. Once you have decided who your target customer is and what benefit you are bringing them go out and talk to people, lots of people. You can’t shortcut this. There is no real substitute. When you look someone in the eye and explain what you are doing you can read reaction in their eyes.

This is why I have used this approach at companies like NCR, Traveling Software, and Door to Door Storage. No matter what else I was doing I set up a goal and schedule for face to face customer and prospect meetings. At Traveling Software we actually had a routine of holding group customer meetings once a month. At NCR we did a series of blind interviews with IT executives using a research firm. We wanted to do it blind to eliminate bias. I accompanied the researched on the interviews under the guise of being with the research company. I wanted to personally see the reactions.

The feedback you get is invaluable. Don’t mix up one on one discussions with statistics. You are not looking for percentages and don’t try to turn them into percentages. You want insights. You want validation or rejection of gut feel. You want the “oh, I didn’t realize that” thoughts. In researching consumers for a photo sharing company I found out through discussions like this that customers with 2 megapixel cameras thought they couldn’t print quality prints. As a result we had to educate them and prove to them the opposite.

So, don’t formalize your discussions into structured market research. Let your discussions be free flowing, but have a punch list of topics that are key areas you want to get feedback on. Just make sure you have covered them before you are done. Here are some typical things you’ll want to know:

  • Is this concept interesting?

  • How would it make your life better?

  • What words would you use to describe it?

  • Would you tell others about it? Who? What would you say to them?

  • Where might a discussion of this product come up? Business meeting, etc.

  • What else might this product do that it doesn’t appear to do as described?

  • How would that improve your life?

  • Would you buy this product? Why?

  • Would you be the person to decide on a purchase?

  • Who else would be involved?

  • Would anyone else have to approve this purchase? What aspects would they be interested in before they approved?

  • What purchase would you have to forgo to make this purchase, or in other words, what are the competing purchases for your dollar?

  • Who else should I talk to? Can you introduce me?