8 myths you tell yourself to not talk to customers yet (with audio version)

Break through Outreach Paralysis with these tips

Last post, I ranted about how PhDs often stay behind their desk. Let’s call this Outreach Paralysis. This behaviour is not exclusive to PhDs. Introverts, perfectionists, and insecure people tend to display this behaviour.

Outreach Paralysis is one of the biggest killers of momentum for early-stage startups. Overcoming it is hard.

Someone emailed me on what to do if you encounter yourself in this outreach paralysis. Perhaps you recognise these claims:

1. I don’t know everything yet

You don’t. That is the reason you go talk to them. They know more than you. Flip the mindset to turn this obstacle into a reason to go out there.

From

“I don’t know everything yet, therefore I can’t talk to them”

To

“I don’t know everything yet, therefore I have to talk to them”

2. I don’t have anything to show yet

Initially, you don’t need anything to show to your customer. You need to bring a genuine interest in how they deal with the problem (or job to be done) you aim to solve.

At some point, they might ask: so what are you going to do for me? Pitch your idea. A verbal pitch is also something to show. See how they respond.

Positive? Then you have a reason for another meeting when you have something to show.

3. There’s just two more things I want to change about what I want to show

There’s always two more things. Having something incomplete is not bad, just be forward about it to your potential customer. Reid Hoffman famously said: “If you are not ashamed of your first version, you shipped too late”.

“Hey, currently I have this. It’s not done yet, but I’m extremely curious to already hear what you think!”

This elevates this potential customer to an expert in your innovation process. Everybody likes to be involved like that if they are a launching customer.

Sidenote: Some markets are oligopolies, meaning there are five potential customers in your entire country. In this situation, a little more carefulness is required.

4. They already work with a competitor

Perfect. That means you can learn what they like about that competitor and whatnot. You can view your competitor as a prototype of what you are trying to do. Free learning.

5. I think they don’t want to talk to me

Do you think this or do you know this? Have you had 10 rejections already on email? Did you even send those 10 emails? If not, don’t let this belief strike you down.

Validate if this is true. And even after 10 rejections, you can’t say they don’t want to talk to you. Maybe you reach the wrong people. Maybe your email content sucks. Try 10 more.

6. I feel I’m bothering them and wasting their time

There’s two ways to tackle this one:

First: Without reaching out and getting market validation on your solution, you might be wasting your own time. Do you value your own time? Probably your scarcest resource. Don’t overcommit to something you don’t have market validation for. Get those signals.

Second: You are not bothering them if you have the potential to help them. Let’s say your solution helps them to do something awesome. You need their input to reach awesomeness, both of you.

That doesn’t sound like bothering, does it? No. “But what about those emails or DMs?” How many emails do you ignore or politely say no to? It doesn’t drag you down the entire week, right?

7. I’m socially awkward/anxious and don’t know what to say in a conversation

This happens, especially to introverts. If you have a co-founder, it can help to double-team these calls. This makes you a listener rather than a conversation leader.

I’ve mentored a young founder who employed this technique and she developed herself to be a conversation leader. The other person would act like a conversational fluffer, and when she felt comfortable to ask questions, she did so.

Solo founder? Bad luck, or find a co-founder.

8. But what if I get rejected in the conversation

Brutal rejections are very rare. 9 out of 10 founders I mentor report back to me that there is an initial hurdle in reaching out. But when you get into the first conversation, the second one is easier.

People generally are nice.

Lack of momentum kills further momentum. Swallow the frog. Nobody’s going to do it for you.

Where to find potential customers?

So, try to recognise these thoughts and label them as unconstructive to your momentum. Mindfulness style.

Now, the last complaint is: where do I find people? If you don’t know where to find people to reach out to, check out my tips here.