As Angele Beausoleil mentions in her “Business Design Thinking and Doing” book (a practical guide),
“Personas are models of end-users (or customers) that reflect their goals, beliefs, motivations, thoughts, behaviours and preferences. Personas are not fictional profiles (or characters) created to suit a story conceived from the imagination.”
Alright, now that we've got the basics - who cares?
Understanding your customer persona helps you offer products and services in the easiest way for them.
For example, I was advising a space startup. They initially wanted to develop their product, show it to customers, and then manufacture and deliver once purchased. Was that what the customer needed? We didn’t know.
After some convincing, the founders agreed to go into the market and talk to potential customers. Their hesitation came from the fact that their industry was dominated by a few big players, and knocking on their doors without a good reason could be risky. They worried they might not get another chance.
This concern is understandable but emotional. The truth is, we won’t know until we try. The question was, can we try with minimal risks? After extensive industry research, we contacted potential customers through LinkedIn and word of mouth. Out of 14, 11 responded, and we ended up interviewing 7.
My big push was to change the interview style from a formal script to a more relaxed, informal chat where we got to know and observe the decision-makers as people. Armed with thick data (quantitative points plus qualitative observations), we created a customer persona.
We quickly realized that their target customers were the big players and they liked the product but didn’t want to rely on a small startup’s manufacturing process. They’d rather do it themselves and control the whole process. With this information, the startup switched the business model to selling their IP to large companies, along with consulting hours on the use of their technology, where they got to keep all the proprietary data.
Within a few months, they signed a multimillion-dollar deal. Win-win-win!
Why us if other consultants do this too?
On top of being an entrepreneur, I’m also a screenwriter. While you can’t see my shows on Netflix yet (though you can catch my face on Prime and HBO), I’m good at creating characters.
Think about it—if you were pitching a new Batmobile to Batman, you’d know his wants, needs, goals, and motivations exactly. Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Batman’s safety and security needs are paramount due to his traumatic childhood. As a result, he needs an indestructible, high-tech vehicle with hidden compartments for weapons and a self-repair system. It should be easy to maintain with common tools. And Batman is someone who appreciates quality, so his WTP (willingness to pay) is probably high as well.
Image: Screenrant
This is my job: to create your customer persona as if it’s your favorite movie character. You’ll know what their wants and needs are, their goals and motivations, and their emotions when making decisions. We might not know their darkest secrets (TMI), but we’ll have enough information to give them what they need and want. Not more, and not less.
If this sounds helpful, or if you have any questions, drop a comment or book an appointment. Let’s chat.
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