#42 - 2 for 1: Combining Customer Research & Sales Demos with Jane Portman of UI Breakfast

Sales demos are a great opportunity to get to know your customers. The person on the other end is interested in your product, looking for a solution to a problem, and likely have some pain points with their current solutions.

That's why Jane Portman, co-founder of Userlist, uses demos as an opportunity to connect with potential customers, keep pain points top of mind, and learn how to make her product even better.  She chatted with Erin and JH about why she's doing customer research and sales demos at the same time, how constantly talking to customers helps her develop a better product, and how she came up with the podcast name UI Breakfast. 

Highlights

• [2:16] During the MVP phase, all new customers had to go through sales demos to start using Userlist. 
• [4:24] Making early customers go through demos ensured that Userlist's customers were all well informed about the capabilities and what to expect from the product.
• [5:49] How do you combine meaningful research with sales demos?
• [8:35] Because Jane and her team are talking to people all the time, they're learning as things change.
• [11:57] The specific questions Jane asks in her demo calls.
• [14:40] If something is coming up in calls all the time, you can't forget about it. Since Jane and her co-founder are always hearing about pain points, they can focus on building solutions before logging insights.
• [20:43] Asking your most active customers for feedback as you go is helpful for product teams who like to stay in touch with customers. 
• [24:03] How do you stay objective when doing research in a demo?

About our Guest

Jane Portman is the CEO & co-founder of Userlist and the host of the UI Breakfast podcast. She's passionate about helping founders connect with their customers and learning more about their stories. 

Recommended Reading

• User Onboarding: The Ultimate Guide for SaaS Founders
• How to Design and Conduct a Customer Interview