Be Patient During Customer Discovery
December 3, 2024
Customer discovery is a grind. It’s not intellectually challenging, but it will test your motivation, as getting dozens, if not hundreds, of calls with potential customers is a lot of work.
Email outreach is critical for most B2B startups. At first, use it for customer discovery and then direct sales. Although many founders try to sell potential customers immediately, I suggest asking for advice instead to improve your response rate and generate much needed feedback.
This very short template is quick and easy to test, as it doesn’t require recipient knowledge and is ~40 words; so it’s short enough for most social media messaging.
Example:
Subject: Advice on Accounting
Hi Alison!
My name is Sam, I’m working on a solution for accounting and I’d love to get your quick advice for 15 minutes.
Can you chat on Tuesday or Wednesday, Nov 7 or 8 at 2pm? Alternatively, my calendar is here.
We would really appreciate your time!
Best,
Sam
CEO & Co-founder AcmeAccounting
Template:
Subject: Advice on [PROBLEM]
Hi [RECIPIENT NAME]!
My name is [FOUNDER NAME], I’m working on a solution for [PROBLEM] and I’d love to get your quick advice for 15 minutes.
Can you chat on [TWO TIME OPTIONS]? Alternatively, my calendar is here [CALENDAR LINK].
We would really appreciate your time!
Best,
[FOUNDER NAME]
[FOUNDER TITLE] — [COMPANY NAME (link)]
[SOCIAL MEDIA LINK]
This template performs the best amongst Sterling Road founders. It’s slightly longer at ~80 words, with basic recipient specifics. It works well because it’s concise yet offers an incentive.
Example:
Subject: Advisory Board Position
Hi Mehdi!
I was looking at your experience at Nissan and Suzuki and your work on output optimization at Tesla. My co-founders and I think you’d be a great fit for our board!
We’re a startup looking for Automotive leaders to give feedback and take part in our beta. We provide Computer Vision for Car Manufacturers to stop downtime.
I’d love to chat. Are you free: Tuesday or Wednesday, Nov 7 or 8 at 2pm, or feel free to book here.
Thanks,
Albert
CEO & Co-founder — AcmeVision
Template:
Subject: Advisory Board Position
Hey [RECIPIENT NAME]!
I was looking at your experience at [COMPANY 1 and 2] and your work at [COMPANY 3]. My co-founders and I think you’d be a great fit for our board!
We’re a startup looking for [SECTOR] leaders to give feedback and take part in our beta. We [ONE LINER].
I’d love to chat. Are you free: [TWO TIMES] or feel free to book here [CALENDAR LINK].
Thanks,
[FOUNDER NAME]
[FOUNDER TITLE] — [COMPANY NAME (link)]
[SOCIAL MEDIA LINK]
This is the longest template at ~110 words and introduces your company first. It still requires basic knowledge of the recipient and offers an incentive. Best used when you’re messaging alone attracts interest.
Example:
Subject: 401k Advisory Board Position
Hi Izabel,
I’m Rebecca, one of the founders of AcmeCash. We’re a new 401k provider that lets your employees align their money with their values. We make it easy for employees to select investment vehicles that match up with both their investment goals and their philosophy, while also generating market leading returns.
We’re forming a small advisory board with a few seats left, and we think you would be a great fit given your experience at Intuit and in the retirement space.
Do you have time this week to discuss joining the board? I’m free: Tuesday or Wednesday, Nov 7 or 8 at 2pm or you can set up 15 minutes with me here.
Thanks,
Rebecca
CEO & Co-founder — AcmeCash
Template:
Subject: [SECTOR] Advisory Board Position
Hi [RECIPIENT NAME],
I’m [YOUR NAME], one of the founders of [COMPANY NAME]. We’re [2 SENTENCE INTRO].
We’re forming a small advisory board, with a few seats left, and we think you would be a great fit given your experience in the [SECTOR] space.
Do you have time this week to discuss joining the board? I’m free: [TWO TIMES] or feel free to book here [CALENDAR LINK].
Thanks,
[FOUNDER NAME]
[FOUNDER TITLE] — [COMPANY NAME (link)]
[SOCIAL MEDIA LINK]
Sales Template
When asking for advice fails, you can try pushing an immediate sale. Here’s an example if you want to get straight to business:
Example:
Hi Aisha,
We’re giving our customers a 15% increase in monthly revenue within 60 days.
Customers like AcmeShoes saw a 19.3% increase in topline revenue by month 3, here’s what their founder said: “Beyond the 30x ROI, OneMessage’s excellent team has consistently gone above and beyond for us.”
Does next work for a quick chat? I’m free: Tuesday or Wednesday, Nov 7 or 8 at 2pm or you can set up 15 minutes with me here.
Thanks,
Jonathan
CEO & Co-founder — OneMessage
Template:
Hi [RECIPIENT NAME],
We’re [SPECIFIC OUTCOME CLAIM].
Customers like [CASE STUDY WITH ONE METRIC AND A QUOTE].
Does next work for a quick chat? I’m free: [TWO TIMES] or you can set up 15 minutes with me here [CALENDAR LINK].
Thanks,
[FOUNDER NAME]
[FOUNDER TITLE] — [COMPANY NAME (link)]
[SOCIAL MEDIA LINK]
Email outreach is not an easy part of the customer discovery and growth process, so use these templates to give yourself a running start on the problem.
