The Mom Test

Takeaways

ask people about their problems, don't tell them about your ideas
always know 3 things you want to be learning - most importantly, does your problem matter?
know what happens next after a meeting

Key Points

overview

do
- ask people about their problems
- gather concrete facts about customer habits and world views
- figure out if the problem matters
- focus on learning
don't
- tell people about your idea, don't ask if it's a good idea

questions

do
- ask a question that could destroy your business
- pick 3 things you want to learn about each persona
  - pick questions by asking what you know least about
- dig into interesting and unexpected answers
- get specifics
don't
- hypothetical questions: "eg. do you ever, would you ever"
- try to pitch if a signal is lukewarm - find a strong signal
when:
- problem => ask for current workaround
  - questions
    - how do they solve X?
    - how much do they pay for X? what is their budget?
    - when was the last time they encountered X?
    - what have they done to solve X?
- nosignal => dig into details
  - questions
    - is problem not a big deal?
    - is it the wrong persona?
    - does customer not care for implementation?
    - is customer fatigued about pitches?
- compliments => avoid
  - questions:
    - why do they like idea?
    - how much money would it save?
    - how would it fit into their live?
    - have they tried alternatives?
- fluff
  - generic answer => ask for specific example
    - eg. I am overwhelmed with front-end technology. When was the last time you had to work on the frontend? What did you do?
    - questions:
      - what parts do you love/hate about X?
  - hypotheticals => anchor to past behavior
    - questions:
      - when was the last time this happened?
      - what have you done about this?
  - ideas => understand motivation
    - questions
      - understand
        
        why do you want that?
        
        what would that let you do?
        
        how are you coping without it?
        
        is this something you need at launch or can be added later?
        
        how would this fit into your day?
      - emotion
        
        tell me more about that
        
        this seems to bug you
        
        what makes it so awful
        
        why haven't you been able to fix this

interviews

do
- 3 separate meetings
  1. learn about customer and problem
    - 1st meeting should be casual (under 5 minutes)
  2. talk about solution
  3. make a sell
- every interview should lead to commitment or advancement
- be clear about ask for a commitment
  - examples
    - intro to peers
    - alpha user
    - case study

leads

do
- you can get leads by
  - teaching
    - eg. conferences, workshops, online videos, blogging, free consulting, office hours
  - organizing events/knowledge exchanges
  - ask professors for intros
- Vision / Framing / Weakness / Pedestal / Ask
- segment by who/where
- find customers with consistent problems/goals
dont
- talk to everyone

process

do
- prep, review, and take notes
- have 3 big questions
- have an existing set of beliefs that you are updating
- make the best guess about a person before talking to them
- focus on
  - pain/problem
  - goal/job
  - obstacle
  - workaround
  - background/context

Concepts

Zombie Leads

Notes

The Mom Test

dont tell customers about your idea, ask about their problems #star
measure for usefulness: gather concrete facts about customer habits and world views
figure out if the problem matters
generic answers: counter with specific examples
dig in to interesting or unexpected answer
get more specific: what parts do they love/hate?
workarounds: how do they solve X? how much do they pay for it? whats the budget?
does it matter? what happened the last time a customer encountered a problem? why are they not solving it?

Avoiding bad data

3 types:
- compliments
- fluff (generics, hypotheticals, future)
- ideas
compliments: avoid by not pitching your idea
- if you did, get details:
  - why do they like the idea?
  - how much money would it save them?
  - how would it fit into their life?
  - what else have they tried?
fluff
- generics: I usually/always/never
- future tense: I would/will
- hypothetical: I might/could
watch out for fluff-inducing questions (eg. do you ever, would you ever, etc)
- get concrete, anchor to past behavior
  - when is the last time that happened?
  - what have you done in the past?
watch out for complainers: people that talk fluff but don't actually do anything about the problem
digging into feature requests
- understand request
  - “Why do you want that?”
  - “What would that let you do?”
  - “How are you coping without it?”
  - “Do you think we should push back the launch to add that feature, or is it something we could add later?”
  - “How would that fit into your day?”
- understand emotion
  - “Tell me more about that.”
  - “That seems to really bug you — I bet there’s a story here.”
  - “What makes it so awful?”
  - “Why haven’t you been able to fix this already?”
avoid approval seeking
- If you’ve mentioned your idea, people will try to protect your feelings

Asking important questions

ask a question that could destroy your business
if you get a weak signal, don't try to pitch on the idea but move on
- dig into details of why signal is lukewarm
  - is problem not a big deal?
  - is it the wrong persona type?
  - does customer not care for the specific implementation?
  - did customer hear too many pitches?
- don't zoom in until you have a strong signal
plan 3 most important things you want to learn for each persona type
- choose whatever is the most murkiest to start asking about

Keeping it casual

interview in 3 meetings
1. learn about customer and problem
2. talk about solution
3. make a sell
first interview should be casual and can be done in under 5min

Commitment and advancement

If you don’t know what happens next after a product or sales meeting, the meeting was pointless

interviews sholud lead to
- commitment: lead is willing to give something of value (time, reputation, money)
- advancement: moving closer to purchasing
not getting outcome is usually because
- you're looking for compliments
- you're not asking for a clear commitment
commitments
- intro to peers
- alpha user
- case study
goal of early sales is learning

Finding conversations

spend time teaching
- eg. conferences, workshops, online videos, blogging, free consulting, office hours
organize a conference or knowledge exchange group
talk to professors for intros
Vision / Framing / Weakness / Pedestal / Ask
- VISION: what are you doing?
- FRAMING: what stage are you at?
- WEAKNESS: why do you need help? what do you need answers on?
- PEDESTRAL: why is this person the right person to help you?
- ASK: ask your questions

Choosing your customers

if you're not finding consistent problems/goals, you don't have a customer segment
segment is who/where pair
- eg. finance professionals, age 225-35, living in a major city, that live in london, are training for a marathon, and go to the gym during their lunch hour
should find people you admire/enjoy being around
you should not be talking to everyone

Running the process

prep, review, take notes
have your list of 3 big questions
have existing set of beliefs that you are updating
spend up to an hour doing a best guess about the person you'll be talking to and what they care about
things to note down
- ☇ Pain or problem (symbol is a lightning bolt)
- ⨅ Goal or job-to-be-done (symbol is a soccer/football goal)
- ☐ Obstacle
- ⤴ Workaround
- ^ Background or context (symbol is a distant mountain)