Ag Tech Sunday - How to choose early customers for your Ag startup
- By: "Farm Tender" News
- Ag Company News
- Jan 26, 2019
- 580 views
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We often discuss approaches to building customer empathy and validating product design, for example when we are helping our own customers or in events such as Ag Innovations Bootcamp.
One of the recurring questions is “are we working or testing with the right customers?” Often the answer is a clear “yes”, but not always. The cost to a business of developing an innovation based on feedback from the wrong customer can be enormous.
If you develop products or services for the agricultural sector, it is worth revisiting how you identify and choose your early customers.
Why early customers are important
At first glance, early customers are only those who first discover and adopt your service. But it’s often not that simple. They may arrive through your network. They may be hard-won with shoe leather, or by “growth hacking” your value proposition.
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Early customers will influence your product in important ways:
* Great product design comes from customer empathy. You build a deep understanding of your customer’s context, goals and needs. You must understand the real problem you are trying to solve for the customer, and its value to them.
* You test your product or service prototypes with your early customers. These may be deliberate prototypes or your first MVP (Minimum Viable Product) release.
* Early customers show traction. Your investors or your organisation look to adoption as proof of a viable business model.
Who are my early adopters?
Everett Rogers coined the term in his book The Diffusion of Innovations (1962). His theory about adoption of innovation used the results of 508 sociology studies. Much of the early work on diffusion focused on agricultural technology in the 1920s and ’30s. This was a time of widespread innovation in genetics and mechanisation.
Rogers defined five categories of adopters for an innovation:
* Innovators: willing to take a risk on innovation for its own sake.
* Early adopters: adopt technology that solves problems and provides status.
* Early majority: influenced by early adopters, they wait to adopt useful and valuable innovation.
* Late adopters: with some scepticism adopt after the majority.
* Laggards: see no value in change.
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These are often seen in the diagram made popular in Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm (1991).
Diffusion of innovations graph
Image attribution: Andre Ivanchuk
The percentages shown may not quite match your market, but studies show the shape of the curve and overall proportions generally apply.
Early adopters must be the initial target. Innovators love innovation for its own sake. They don’t represent the problems and needs of your larger market. You will end up solving the wrong problems. The early majority await evidence of success from early adopters.
How you can identify an early adopter
We like the way that Justin Wilcox defines early adopters in the light of the problem you are trying to solve (Focus Framework, 2016). It’s a practical way to think about what makes your early adopters distinctive.
* Laggards - Don’t have the problem you are trying to solve.
* Late majority - Have the problem, but don’t know it yet.
* Early majority - Have the problem, and know they have the problem, but are not yet paying to solve the problem.
* Early adopters - Have the problem, know they have the problem, and are already paying to solve the problem.
“Paying” to solve the problem doesn’t mean they are buying another product or service. They may be investing time or effort. They may be hiring staff or using a consultant. They may be “making do” or “using number 8 wire” (as we say in New Zealand).
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What techniques might your early adopters be using to solve the problem? Those very techniques might be the indicators that help you identify the customers.
As early adopters know they have the problem and are trying to solve it, they may respond to an appropriate call to action. You might test if you can position your solution in a way that early adopters will recognise and respond.
Finding early adopter farmers and rural professionals
One you’ve worked out how to recognise or filter an early adopter, where do you look? These suggestions come from our team and Ag Innovations Bootcamp attendees:
Listen online: Tune into farming-oriented groups in Facebook or hashtags on Twitter. The best Facebook farming groups are often closed – you need to be a farmer or show you won’t spam the group to join. Use these groups to understand interests, events, and to ask good questions.
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* Build your network: Create a diverse network of rural professionals, influencers, and others. Make sure you help others and give as well as take. Members of your network will help you meet potential early adopters.
* Hit the road: Attend the events that your early adopters are also likely to attend. There are many farming-focused events, conferences, and field days. Going along to listen and learn at farm open days is a great way to meet others.
* Learn the language: Agriculturalists I know are willing to speak with anyone trying to improve farming’s lot. Listen to them to build the language and questions that will help you influence customers.
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