Playbook 7 of 10, Grow
Earn your first customers
Win your first customers with personal outreach, a scoped pilot, fast onboarding and a conversation log that records why people said yes or no.
What you will have at the end
- A named list of first customers
- A one-page pilot scope that the customer has seen
- An onboarding checklist
- A conversation log
The steps
-
Name your first ten
List ten specific people or companies by name, drawn from your interviews and from the problem brief. A named list is something you can work through. A market is not.
-
Reach out personally, with a specific reason
Write to each one about the problem you heard from them or from people like them. Say what you would like to try together and what you would ask of them.
-
Scope a pilot in writing
Agree what the pilot covers, how long it runs and what result would count as success. Write it down with the customer so both sides can check it at the end.
-
Shorten the time to first value
Walk each new customer from sign-up to the first result, and note every point where they hesitate. Time to first value is the time between starting and getting something worth having.
-
Ask for the commitment
At the end of the pilot ask for what a real customer would give, whether that is payment, a renewal, a referral or a written reference. A clear no teaches you as much as a yes.
-
Log every conversation
After each conversation record what they asked for, what they objected to and why they said yes or no. Review the log weekly for patterns and change the product or the offer when the patterns are clear.
The playbook at a glance
A cover, one public figure that frames the question this playbook answers, and the steps drawn as one path.
These figures describe the wider market, not WE's results.
The steps, in order
- Name your first ten
- Reach out personally, with a specific reason
- Scope a pilot in writing
- Shorten the time to first value
- Ask for the commitment
- Log every conversation
Open these next
- Customer interview guide Questions and a note format for interviews about past behavior.
- Landing page brief A template for briefing a landing page before it is built.
- Metrics calculator Type one month of your numbers and see net new MRR, gross revenue churn, quick ratio, CAC payback, LTV to CAC and runway, with every formula shown.
- Brief: The first 100 customers
What good looks like
Good early selling is slow, specific and written down. You can name each person you spoke with, say what you asked of them and say what they answered, including the nos.
- The named list has ten or fewer entries at first, and each one has a status and the date of the last contact.
- Each pilot has a one-page scope that the customer has seen, with an end date and a result that counts as success.
- A new customer can get from sign-up to the first result, and you know where each one hesitated.
- At the end of a pilot you asked for what a real customer gives, such as payment, a renewal, a referral or a written reference.
- The conversation log is current, and you can point to a pattern in it and name it.
Decision aid: what to do after a pilot
At the end of a pilot, find the row that matches what happened. Then do the next move in that row and write the result in the log.
| What happened | What it usually means | The next move |
|---|---|---|
| The customer reached the first result and agreed to pay | The product does the job for this customer. | Write down what they said made the difference and look for the next customer who has the same need. |
| The customer reached the first result and said no to paying | The result is real but the price, the timing or the buyer is wrong. | Ask what would have to be true for a yes. Record the answer word for word. |
| The customer did not reach the first result | The onboarding or the product is in the way. | Watch a new customer from sign-up to the first result before you contact anyone else. |
| The customer reached the result but did not return | It solved a one-time need, or the habit was never formed. | Ask what they do now and whether the need comes back. Change the offer if it does not. |
| The customer asked for something only they need | A request from one account, not yet a pattern. | Add it to the backlog. Build it only when several customers ask for the same thing. |
| The customer went quiet before the pilot ended | The pilot had no date that forced a decision. | Send a short message that ends the pilot and asks for a clear yes or no. |
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Why it costs you | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Broad outreach before any conversation | Messages with no specific reason are easy to ignore and teach you nothing. | Write to named people about a problem you have already heard described. |
| Open-ended pilots with no end date | With no end date there is no moment when anyone has to decide. | Agree the scope, the length and the success result before the pilot starts. |
| Building custom features for one buyer | You bend the product around one account and lose the pattern. | Add a request to the backlog and build it only when several customers show the same need. |
| Counting sign-ups instead of results | Sign-ups say people were curious, not that the product helped. | Count customers who reached the first result and came back. |
| Avoiding the price conversation | You find out late whether anyone will pay. | Raise price early and record every reaction in the log. |
| Keeping the log in your head | Memory keeps the good conversations and drops the rest, so the pattern disappears. | Write each conversation down the same day, in the same format. |
Evidence to check before you move on
Move to Run a first outbound sequence when you can show each of these.
- The named list exists, and every name has a status and a date of last contact.
- At least one pilot ran to its written end, and you asked for a commitment at the close.
- The onboarding checklist shows the steps a new customer follows to the first result.
- The conversation log has enough entries that you can point to a pattern and name it.
If the log shows no pattern, go back to your assumptions in Validate the problem before you spend on growth.
Where WE can help
WE’s Customer Relations and Market Development line covers outreach support, pilot scoping and a log of what buyers said. It does not promise that conversations will turn into customers or revenue. The service line page lists what it covers and what it does not.
Sources
The steps and the decision aid draw on the articles and templates below. Each article names the public sources it read.
Start a readiness review
Tell WE where the company stands. WE replies to arrange a conversation and a written read of your company's timeline.
A short PDF of the charts and sources, sent by email to the address you give.
Talk to WE : A question that does not fit a form.