nielsenandcompany.com | the blog

That used to be a simple question to answer in the old days. Nowadays - especially when dealing with Web 2.0 solutions - the question becomes a little more complex.

Nowadays customers are very seldom possible to define as only one person or entity. You need to define your customer even further by defining the customer roles. The B2B-industry have been doing it for years, now it is up to B2C to embrace the same issues.

In B2B you have several customer roles, which when defined will help you in the sales/communications process. You have the one ordering the product/service, you have the one using the product/service and you have the one paying for the product/service. Each of the roles must be addressed during the sales process. Old news for B2B-agencies, rather new news for the B2Cs .

Next time you are in the process of introducing a new product or a new service, think about the customer roles. If you don’t find a solution, feel free to contact one of the consultants at nielsenandcompany.com.

Dear John

I have a friend with a really good web 2.0 project that I am seeking finance for. We have received a lot of good feedback on the functionality and the looks of the site, and now I want to go forward seeking finance. How should I go about it? PS. We haven’t really started the project yet.

Dear oh dear,

your friend should first of all ask whether he or she is committed to the project or not. If the person is not so much committed that he/she will start up or continue without finance, the person should quit wasting other people’s time presenting it. Besides business opportunities, investors look for personality and commitment. If your friend is not interested in investing his commitment or personality in the project before seeking financing, it is a dead project.

My best suggestion would be that the person in question commit before seeking finance, for example by starting the project, trying it out, checking customer interest and then get back to me.

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Previously posted in the Facebook-group Dear John, 24 August. The reason for re-publishing it in our own blog is that we still get wannabe-entrepreneurs telling about their great idea. Their problem is that they haven’t the ambition or the drive to go on or even start up without finance on products and services that doesn’t need an early stage-financing. Think about it: if you were true to your heart, would you as a VC invest in some project or somebody not willing to commit? I wouldn’t.

…everyone can claim 20/20.

This is one of the reasons for us being resistant to the blog phenomenon…

Nevertheless, we’ll give it a try and see where it will go. You may see this blog in the future on a desktop or a laptop in front of you.