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Ask HN: How do you ask users about their pain point?

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101–110 of 121 posts

Re: Ask HN: How do you ask users about their pain point?

#101
I run a sales dev agency and your numbers are decent. Here are two things to try:

- message founders in the space with "I'm working on a new startup and could use your advice"

- after each interview ask them for a referral to someone who you could interview

This creates a referral flywheel and eventually will be a function that brings you customers. I have written a blog post on the topic but I don't think linking here is cool.

Re: Ask HN: How do you ask users about their pain point?

#102

I run a sales dev agency and your numbers are decent. Here are two things to try: - message founders in the space with "I'm working on a new startup and could use your advice" - after each interview ask them for a referral to someone who you could interview This creates a referral flywheel and eventually will be a function that brings you customers. I have written a blog post on the topic but I don't think linking he…

https://predictablerevenue-newsletter.beehiiv.com/p/customer...

Hope this is ok/helps ^

Re: Ask HN: How do you ask users about their pain point?

#103
post #57

DO tell them you are doing /market research/ and really appreciate their experience and insight. Generally I have offered an "honorarium" of say $200 for a 30 minute interview (for doctors you might want to offer $500). 90% of people never collect the money, just that somehow offering an "honorarium" makes the whole thing seem more legit and organized. A high honorarium (like $500 for doctors) will also demonstrate r…

From a practical standpoint, do you just wait until they hit you up later asking for their money?

At the end of the call, you ask them for payment details, and usually they say "oh dont bother"

Re: Ask HN: How do you ask users about their pain point?

#104
1. decide on an industry you have a bit of experience in.

2. look where those users are. they might be in subreddits or fb groups or wherever.

3. look for apps they use. there are lots of it in android play store and apple store.

4. read the helpful and critical reviews. these statements prove that there is demand, that some people like it, and that some people care enough to voice out their frustrations.

5. if you havent read the mom test, find a pirated copy, or just buy it. this book will course correct your interactions and expectations with your users.

Re: Ask HN: How do you ask users about their pain point?

#105

While the hustle is admirable, I think you could use more creativity on the outreach plan. Doctors are likely one of the most harried professions in the world. Cold emails to these folks are not going to work well. You have to find a way to network. Look at how pharma reps do it. Attractive people, coming into the office and bring lunch. Where can you put yourself in a spot to meet and talk to a high percentage of do…

One of our friends is a retired pharma rep. He made the majority of his connections through networking at conferences. During their workdays, doctors are typically over-worked and unwilling to be distracted.

Same retired pharma rep now volunteers at a major hospital a couple of days a week - most of his interaction is with patients - staff are too busy and volunteers provide the necessary welfare connections, especially with elderly and lonely patients.

Re: Ask HN: How do you ask users about their pain point?

#106
post #63

Really dumb foolish suggestion? Check volunteer opportunities at your local hospital or health clinics.

I don’t find this at all foolish. I agree and while OP is looking for doctor input, a better avenue might be leveraging nurses as a seed point and growing from there. As (and this isn’t meant as a slight) grunt workers can be more open to sharing hardships and a good entry point for moving up the chain if they find your argument/solution as valid.

Yea, I was thinking that volunteering would help them meet people and see their pain points first-hand. Observing/shadowing sounds like a lot better way to get insight into what's going on. Plus they're offering up help in exchange for a chance to learn about their potential customer base.

Re: Ask HN: How do you ask users about their pain point?

#107
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is great advice because it works for so many professions. Want to make a product for lawyers? Go to law school and be a lawyer for 10 years. Bam. Next question.

Be an assistant at a law firm for 3 months would presumably cut it. Domain knowledge for something like this is not optional.

But what’s the issue with just talking to people? Do you have to experience it?

Re: Ask HN: How do you ask users about their pain point?

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be an assistant at a law firm for 3 months would presumably cut it. Domain knowledge for something like this is not optional.

But what’s the issue with just talking to people? Do you have to experience it?

People are notoriously bad at describing their actual problems. Most of the time, they will describe their perceived solutions. What's worse, even of you get to the bottom of their problem, they won't describe their procedures that they follow day by day. This is because to them it's trivial, on the level of muscle memory, but to you as an outsider it won't even occur to ask about it unless you actually see what they are doing. By just talking to people, no matter how many hours, you'll be missing a lot of context and your product will be bad.

Re: Ask HN: How do you ask users about their pain point?

#109
post #22

In the realm of cold calling / emailing, 1% conversion is actually pretty normal. 2-5% would be unusually good. I would stick with what you're doing and don't lose faith! If you want to try different strategies in parallel, I work in sales for a healthcare SaaS and while my product is results/outcomes oriented, I have much better luck talking to people about RESULTS they want to achieve vs. PROBLEMS they want to solv…

The last conversational approach is very practical because it provides a concrete example.

Re: Ask HN: How do you ask users about their pain point?

#110
Read everything Atul Gawande has written. The following article, "Why Doctors Hate Their Computers", would be a particularly good place to start:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/11/12/why-doctors-ha...

It illustrates a hugely significant problem you will face: decisions about what processes to follow and what software to use are made by administrators and not front-line doctors or nurses.

If you ask front-line doctors and nurses their biggest pain point, I imagine a common answer will be "our administrators are morons". (I have once heard this expressed by a nurse friend, with breathtaking vitriol.) Unfortunately that is not something you can write software to help with.

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