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Since designing an elaborate training years ago that launched to crickets, I’ve become a big believer in the power of research.
As in asking a few pointed questions to your target audience before diving into creation mode.
There is no room for “If you build it they will come.”
Case in point: For a variety of reasons, I decided to design a new program just for women.
While I had a rough idea of what this might look like, I sought out some women I respect in the solo expertise/authority space because, well, see above.
And while their challenges weren’t that surprising—the way they wanted to solve them was.
It was about 180 degrees different than what I’d thought going in.
And, get this—the price tag they assigned to solving their biggest need was consistently at least a third higher than my initial estimate (some were 100% more).
It hasn’t launched yet, so there is no impressive success story to share right now.
But I DO know that had I not conducted these interviews, I’d have spent hours and hours developing content that they didn’t care about.
I’d have priced it too low for the people I wanted to attract (they would have dismissed it) and too high for everyone else.
My point is this: Our beliefs about what our people want from us are not necessarily the reality, so it pays to ask.
And you’ll only need about 30 minutes of their time to get to the heart of:
Their priorities.
What they struggle with—and why.
The solutions they’ve tried—what worked and what didn’t.
Who/where they look to for answers when they’re challenged or simply want to learn.
As you start hearing the same things, you’ll have an idea of how you can ease their pain. And if you keep probing, they’ll even tell you how to market and price it.
We’re never guaranteed a win when it comes to designing new products and services around our expertise.
But we sure can increase the odds.
Related: Why Selling Expertise Should Be Fun (And What To Do If It Isn’t)