We've been reaching potential customers on LinkedIn, asking them for 15 mins to give feedback on our 'product idea' (at this point is just a sales deck).
Some tactical advice is to include in the connection request message:
1) a little explainer about the problem space that you're looking to tackle
2) the fact that you're an engineer (that why they'll know this isn't a sale call)
Normally we do about 5 mins talking about their business, problems and context then dive into a slide deck that pitches our idea.
At the end of the 'pitch' we get feedback from the customer. We also explain that we're launching a pilot, and give them an opportunity to join the pilot.
The pilot is paid (but cheaper than the public pricing will be), and it involves signing a v.simple 1 page contract/agreement which allows us to invoice them ahead of the 'launch'.
For us, this has been incredibly effective at:
- Understanding if this product hits a pain-point that customers are actually willing to spend budget on
- Weeding out the 'weak' signals like 'I quite like it' (people who 'like' it but may never buy)
- Giving us financial/commercial confidence, since we have invoiceable revenue guaranteed
Sometimes, when you find somebody that really gets it, their body language and attitude is entirely different....they literally PULL the product from your hands (vs. you pushing it on them). They're asking questions like "when can we launch/try it", and "can I introduce you to X Y Z people, who are going to love this?". And they say things like "We're budget constrained, but there are tons of things I'd rather get rid of, to make budget for this"....that's the feeling we're looking for, that tells us we're thinking about the right problem in the right way.
Happy to help if you have any more Qs