Hello to Canada’s SaaS Community,
How do you get your ideal customers to test your product? You ask them! But founders need to realize they are asking for way more than a siloed product trial. Renae Farough, co-founder and CEO of AI-powered sales tool Kicker, got a lot of engaged beta testers—all of whom still use the product today. Speaking with SAAS NORTH, Renae explained how she structured her ask for the best chance of getting a “yes.”
Key takeaways:
- When you ask for beta testers, you’re asking for someone’s time, access to potentially sensitive information, and for them to prioritize you over other work.
- In your ask, clearly state who you want access to, what data you need, and what actions you want people to take.
- Make it a two-way street; look for ways to give back or otherwise make it mutually beneficial.
Co-Founder/Producer, SAAS NORTH Conference Editor, SAAS NORTH NOW
With OVHcloud, gain independence through cloud solutions tailored for ISVs. Build, scale, and deploy applications without vendor lock-in while maintaining control over your architecture and data. Enjoy transparent pricing and predictable costs for seamless growth.
A key part of finding product-market fit is beta testing. Rather than sitting alone (or with your co-founder) brainstorming ways to make an awesome product, you need to get real users doing real tasks and giving feedback.
But how do you ask for that?
Even if you have relationships to leverage, people do what’s in their own best interest—if you don’t frame your ask correctly, you won’t get a yes.
Renae Farough, co-founder and CEO of AI-powered sales tool Kicker, knows this well. Having been in sales for over 10 years, she knew her concept was valuable. But it took in-depth beta testing to truly understand Kicker’s ideal customer profile and design a go-to-market motion.
Speaking with SAAS NORTH, Renae shared the question framework she used to successfully land beta customers.
Advertisement
Understand what you’re really asking
You’re not just asking someone to try your product.
In early stages, your product is unproven and may not even be complete. Further, you’re often looking for workflow integrations, which might include access to sensitive data. And you’re asking them to give you honest feedback.
Founders need to realize that’s a tall ask.
“Regardless of what relationship you have, if your ask isn’t precise and clear, and if the demands and risks aren’t clear to them as well, they ultimately don’t say yes,” said Renae.
Advertisement
We are a sell-side Mu0026A advisory firm with core expertise in B2B Enterprise Cloud, SaaS, and IT companies. Strategic mergers, exits, and carve-outs for technology companies are all we do.
How to frame your ask
Once you grasp how much you’re really asking for, you need to clearly state what actions you want someone to take—and make it easy for them to champion you within their firm.
Here’s what Renae included in her beta customer ask:
- Their time to use the product.
- Description of the product (its current form and goal for the future)
- Explanation of what she hopes the product will deliver for users
- List of people she needs access to (in Kicker’s case, it’s the sales leader and sales team members)
- What she needs from each person (for instance, an initial interview with team members before using the platform, plus ongoing feedback)
- Any additional access (in Kicker’s case, that’s a CRM and Slack integration)
By framing the ask in this way, the champions Renae cultivated through her network know exactly what they are saying yes to. This makes it easier for them to make the case to give you a shot because risks can be managed in service of potential benefit.
Renae added that she also gives beta customers permission to tell her when she’s being annoying. She said this can be hard for people to hear, but someone being annoyed is a great way to get truly honest customer feedback.
“There were times where I was told, ‘This part of your product is annoying to me,’ but that’s great, because then I know that I have to either make a change or remove a factor,” said Renae.
Never take meeting notes again. With Fellow, you can record, transcribe, and summarize meetings automatically, or even skip them and view the recap later. Save time and focus on what truly matters—without missing any details.
Give back while you ask for more
As an early stage startup, you often can’t give a ton to bigger companies as they beta test your platform.
But it doesn’t mean you can’t give back in other ways. Renae’s way of showing up is leveraging her skill set: sales.
“Whenever we go into a relationship like that, I try to give something back,” said Renae. “And so I’m trying to bring him customers while he’s giving me his time, so that it’s somewhat mutually beneficial.”
The ML Masterclass is a 3-hour course for investor professionals focused on deal screening and due diligence, offering essential insights to navigate the evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) without getting lost in the hype. https://www.amii.ca/
Just show up
A final, perhaps underrated factor in getting beta customers is a willingness to show up in person.
Renae mentioned that even with a clear ask, companies are taking a risk whenever they act as a beta customer; not only do you have access to confidential information, but you’re taking up time that could be spent elsewhere on the business.
That kind of relationship requires trust, and Renae said one of the best ways to build it is being there IRL.
“We got so familiar and used to sitting at home, with our own mug of coffee and just hopping on a Zoom,” said Renae. “But there’s so much value in getting face to face and shaking hands with people… the message I want to hammer home to founders is to show up in person.”