Convince customer to talk to you?

searcher profile

October 08, 2021

by a searcher from Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Sloan School of Management in Los Angeles, CA, USA

Does anyone have advice on best-practices for approaching customers of a target business? (i.e., gift cards) How do you decide how much to compensate them for your time? Also how do you interview customers without disclosing that you're interested in the business (i.e. say you're conducting market research?)

0
3
64
Replies
3
commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from University of Virginia in New York, NY, USA
If target is actively marketing their business reaching out to customers is a big no no without permission even if not specifically mentioned in NDA. Easy way to get kicked from a process, piss off the owner and face potential legal consequences.

If you are simply looking for potential targets that are not on the market keep it short and straightforward. “How do you like working with company x” or “i’m potentially interested in working with company x, what has been your experience.” I would avoid any form of compensation. A brief conversation should give you sufficient info if the target has a good report with customers.

My first call would still be to the target owner. I know all my good customers would immediately call me if someone was asking around.
commentor profile
Reply by a professional
from Bentley College in Miami, FL, USA
One option is to simply hire a professional market research firm to do this for you. It's not that expensive ($80-$120/interview). At DueDilio we have a few firms that can do this.
commentor profile
+1 more reply.
Join the discussion