Building a Saas in 2022: Burn the roadmap and engage customers

There are always things to fix in any young product and Helppie.me is no different. I've already come up with a long list of things that I think need to change -- but the trouble is I'm not the customer anymore.

So, how am I going to figure this out? Using Katelyn Bourgoin's Clarity Calls Guides, I'm going to interview customers and competitor users to come up with the top priority features that lead to high priority benefits. And I expect these calls will give me all the marketing, positioning, and roadmap ideas I need to relaunch this product in 2022.

What's the plan?

Helppie is stagnant. That's ok. I bought the app knowing it's not spinning out cash and growing on its own. The app has "good bones" and I believe in the potential of the customer feedback space.

To grow Helppie, I need to know what jobs people want done from a tool like this. Market research is an option, but I want primary research before I assume I know where to look. I've used feedback tools before, but I'm on the wrong side of the fence now: I'm not the buyer. I'm the seller and I cannot assume to know what motivates a buyer anymore.

I need to find people who can share their experiences with me. People who know what it's like to search for and install feedback software.

Finding people to talk to

Helppie's admin dashboard is immature. That means it's hard to know who is using the tool and which users I should connect with. So, I have a simple plan for finding people to talk to:

1. List current users
2. Post an open call on Twitter and LinkedIn
3. Share social media open call with communities I'm involved with
4. Review Product Hunt, G2, and Capterra to find competitors and their customers
5. Search Quora for related Q&A

Once I have my list of interviewees, I'm going to:

1. Draft a message outline
2. Personalize and send a message to each person on the list
3. Do the interviews
4. Summarize the interviews
5. Marketing!

Accountability

I'm going to work in public as much as possible and I'll add new posts as I plan, do the work, and reflect on how it's all going.

Do you use customer feedback tools?

I'd love to talk to you! The interview is a 25-min Zoom with me. No pitch. Just research. I'm offering a $25 Amazon gift card to interviewees. I'll also send you the gift card if you refer someone who chats with me about this.

If you or someone you know are open to talking about customer feedback tools, email me or connect on Twitter.