Stop Guessing, Start Listening: Turning Client Conversations into Fortune.
After a couple of years of great success with ChequePRO (the story I shared in Hustle Memo #008), our customers asked whether we also had an HRMS system (Human Resource Management System). This was limited initially, but then we saw the pattern, and we started asking questions internally and with the clients.
Our questions to the client were: What are they looking for in an HRMS system, and, importantly, what is missing (the problem statement)? Our reason for asking was simple: HRMS systems are simple, run-of-the-mill solutions that existed way before we were even incorporated and are most common.
Over the next few months, and various discussions with clients while still riding on the ChequePRO success, we realized that we have a product idea right in front of us.
At that time, we were still naive and did not even understand the importance of product fit and client feedback, as our first solution came out of a problem from one single client. We were actually fortunate to have access to all these clients and the problems they shared with us.
STOP GUESSING:
For the first time, we understood the word “stop guessing.” We did not need to guess what a client needed or assume the functions and features based on our limited understanding ( we were still a small team). The product and its problem statement were right in front of us. No market Research was needed, as we were right in the market, and it was screaming HRMS.
BIG QUESTIONS
Why were we getting this information? Were we “lucky”?
Did we do something right without knowing it?
Why were the clients comfortable with us? and
Is this just a wish list, or is there a market for the solution?
START LISTENING:
The most said and least implemented 2 words. We listened carefully and asked questions about what is missing in your current system, what you would like to have in the new system, and what will make you move to a new one. I may say we got answers to the big questions or doubts.
The clients were comfortable sharing with us not because we were lucky; it was because we had already WOW’ed them with our product, “ChequePRO.” They loved the solution and wanted their HR system to be similar: simple, easy, and smart (Not AI-powered, as we are still in 2007).
Yes, we did something right with our knowledge. We addressed a market gap, and we did not stop with 2 forms. We went all in and built on top of a client’s feedback and use cases rather than our guesswork.
Was all that we needed to know to Turn Client Conversations into Fortune.
Far from reality, all we got was an idea, and the probability of its success was much higher than that of anyone else who was just guessing or blindly copying some product or solution that was already working. There is nothing wrong with that if you can build something at least three to four times better than that product, which hardly happens in real time.
Companies that copy successful products and make them ten times better are billion-dollar companies today. The interesting book ZERO TO ONE addresses this point and has the most important ten questions for any company planning to create a product.
We were in the initial steps of our journey, and neither was I into reading books. We had no idea of what a mentor meant or where to find one. We were raw and were working more out of our guts and instincts. We felt this felt right, and we would go for it.
The advantage of being a startup is that you can get started on something you feel is the right thing to do, fail faster, and improvise as you go. So we decided we were building an HR solution. All we needed was a name, haha. A lot and a lot more than a name.
Well the name was easy – we got our ideal client persona sorted with the notion the the enterprises for sure will have a HR solution, so our clients are SME”s – Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia … all have 90% companies SME’s – so our name of the next product that sold instantly was “SMEPayroll”
We embarked on the journey, build the produst and fast forward to first ever demo for the solution – I as a the CEO went as the sales person for the demo, Similar to what i did for “Chequepro” & do for every new product we ever built, i love to see the expression on the cleints face first time they see what we built, the trill of the WOW factor is price less for me and will always be.
Again, shaken to the core, I went to the demo. (I highly recommend reading the Chequepro Demo story if you haven’t already, as that will make this one dimmer but will give you the context of the journey.)
This time I had a motor bike but no Anita to support me, it was a demo with a gentleman, Mr. Tan, an office admin who looked after the payroll.
Well, I went into the demo, showing the solution that I was proud to have designed based on the feedback of ChequePRO clients, highlighting how our solution was different from what’s available in the market, how we have addressed the GAP, and all that I had learnt during the development of the solution. This went on for an hour, and I was addressing the questions while being nervous.
What was different from the first demo of the previous product was a layer of confidence in the merits of its success. Under this hard shell of confidence, I was nervous as I was back in an unknown, uncharted territory, and less-known domain.
What happened next changed the course of the company and the solution.
The client not only liked the product but also loved it. The best part was that he made me fax over the quotation while I was in his office, signed it, and gave it to me in my hand.
I was frozen internally but moving externally because of the excitement that had overtaken me. I thanked him and all Mighty GOD and walked to my motorbike. I had to share this information, blow this news all over the world. I was invincible, I was Superman, I was everything I could be.
I called my partner, I still remember the location, my knee on the motorbike seat, I told him how the demo went and how I was able to sell the solution on the spot, and most importantly, I said – “WE ARE GOING TO MAKE A LOT OF MONEY”
So did we, made tremendous success, and out of its success came many more companies we run today.
Spoiler: Next memo – “Sold instantly and Crashed immediately – SMEPayroll”
