There is an old joke, “How do you eat an elephant? A bite at a time!” The wide range of possible customers* is like that. You will have dreams of many, many customers. The challenge is figuring out how to capture them in bite size (i.e. manageable) groups that are realistic and don’t overwhelm your venture.
Thinking about sub-groups is one way to to achieve this. A sub-group is any group of individuals who share common traits. Traits can include demographics (age, gender, socio-economic status, occupation, nationality, etc.), psychographics (activities and hobbies that they have in common), behaviours (shared behavioural patterns), or location (where they are physically location).
As a new venture or an existing venture that is looking to reach new customers, the first step to getting your customer groupings into a manageable bite-size pieces is finding the subgroup within your potential customers that share the traits of your ‘early adopter’ customer.
What is an ‘Early Adopter’ customer and why do you need them?
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Please note that, while these characteristics often go hand in hand sometimes they do not. One thing to look out for when deciding if your proposed group may be more than one segment is whether serving the customers within that group requires you to do things differently (for example, group A would access your services online while group B would come to your offices). In this case you may be looking at more than one segment and may need to decide whether serving both these groups makes sense for your venture at this time. Another avenue to better understand your customers/ the needs of different customer groups is through interviews, check out this fantastic article to learn more about developing and interpreting customer feedback.
Having a thorough understanding of your ‘early adopter’ customer will allow you to dive deep into learning the needs of this group and assure that your offering aligns with those needs. Additionally, as an organization that is looking to start-up a new social enterprise or expand a current one narrowing your focus and capitalizing on opportunities to learn allows you to test and improve your offering on a smaller scale with fewer risks than trying to fulfill the needs of all audiences on day one. To learn more about about the potential users of your offering and reaching additional segments, check out Ain’t No River Wide Enough: How Social Entrepreneurs & Social Innovators Cross the Chasm.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://tricofoundation.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Lol_question_mark.png[/author_image] [author_info][/author_info]Interested in learning more? Check out our A.S.E.S.S. Worksheet #2: Finding Your ‘Early Adopter’ Customer for an opportunity to dive deeper into this concept as it relates to your social enterprise and for an example of how another organization has tackled this issue. If you have any questions about the content of this blog or the worksheet mentioned, please contact us at info@tricofoundation.ca. [/author]
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://tricofoundation.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Trico-sun.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]This blog is part of the Trico Foundation’s effort to capture what it learns as it works to close gaps in society by building capacity and innovation in social entrepreneurship. The flagship effort in this regard is our A.S.E.S.S. TLC (Tools, Links and Coaching) page where you can find most of our thinking on these issues and worksheets designed to help advance your social enterprise idea. Stay tuned for further blogs on the entrepreneurial mindset (including crossing the chasm, effective learning, and overcoming cognitive bias) and the mechanics of successful social enterprises.
We are excited by the progress we are making, but know we still have much to learn. We would value your perspective and feedback. Please join the conversation on twitter. [/author_info] [/author]
*This article is going to delve into your customers (the person/ group who purchases your product or service), if you are currently grappling with the distinction between the beneficiaries and customers in your social enterprise model check out our blog on differentiating between your customers and beneficiaries for more information.
Resources Utilized
Christensen, Clayton M., Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon, and David. S. Duncan. Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice. HarperCollins, 2016.
Godin, Seth. “How to Get Your Ideas to Spread.” TEDx, Feb 2003, accessed from https://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_sliced_bread
MacMillan, Ian and James Thompson. The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook. Wharton Digital Press, 2013.
Moore, Geoffrey A. Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers. HarperCollins Publishers, 2014.