Feedback on Business Problem Statement

Matthew, Aaron, Tris, it was great going and reconnecting with you both, uh, I'm sorry, all three of you, uh, this week, um, for our session.

Uh, thanks for all the questions, the conversation, for getting through, um, some, some like some challenging activities.

And speaking of those activities, I wanted to give you a little feedback on just some extra things that I saw, um, on your board and uh for your business problem statements.

Um, personas and um your OKRs, uh, to feed into the additional homework and stuff that you get into over the course of the next week.

Um, so I'm gonna start with the, uh, business problem statement, and I think what you were discovering in the ORs, uh, around what you can actually Um, manage, right, from an objective standpoint, uh, what you can really control, and that's your sphere of influence maybe stems from the business problem statement a little bit more, right, because it is more of a, a marketing sales focused business problem statement.

Um, and I, you said you were comparing it a little bit or basing it off of what was in the class, and there was an interesting thing that I, it got me to look back at that business problem statement from the class.

Uh, and try to see maybe where we could still, uh, where we're missing and maybe how we connect more with the problems that you see your customers have, and the things that you can do in product experience, uh, to connect with that.

Uh, so the example from the class, uh, I'm just going to read it again, um, and, and then highlight some key pieces.

It says our online mortgage application tool was originally designed to make it dead simple for repeat home buyers to apply and get approved for a mortgage.

We have observed through application abandonment rates and qualitative customer feedback that the product isn't meeting our expectations, which is causing a 45% increase in support calls and a 14% decline in successful application submissions.

How might we provide a simpler application process so that our customers are more successful as determined by a 20% increase in customer in submissions and a 50% home buyer retention rate.

So Key aspects, I think, to note in the business problem statement is that it is a problem for the business and it is a problem for the customer, right, that these two come together, that when our customer has a problem, that, um, and especially if it's a problem that relates to our business, then we have a problem as well.

Um, and so the, the core piece looking at is the abandoned application rates, the quality of customer feedback is tying right back to customer pain points and problems, right? These are issues that they're going through, um, which is causing a drop off in applications for us, which means less revenue and time, right? So we can see that connection between the user behavior and our actual business.

Problem.

Um, and so what we want to see, uh, and, and as well, like they, they said, they're doing more support calls because they don't know what to do.

They're not getting successful applications through, which again means, um, more time investment for us, for each customer because of those support calls.

I think you're mentioning a little bit about that on day one too for your bikes and, and trying to go and do diagnostics.

Um, and then the other part then is like, you know, less applications, less revenue for us, but also then a customer that's not getting what they want, they're not able to go and get approved for a mortgage, so they can't buy a property.

Now, um, and if I look at your business problem statement, right, it says that our online pre-order system was designed to help potential buyers express interest in their newest model release or the newest model release.

We have observed that the conversion of pre-order interest.

To purchases is 60% lower than the original plan on record.

How can we remove barriers to purchase from the urban commuter so that we can increase our conversion rate by 35%? What I'm, I'm again, I'm noticing more of like there's a business reason to do this here and, and there's a, what's the problem that the customers have? What's the problem that the urban commuter has that we're not solving well? Do they, um, so, Uh, to perhaps help you hone this one in, I just spent some time on the Xero Motorcycles website, and when I was looking through, you list all your models and it gives some really interesting pieces here actually.

Let me just pull it back up.

Uh, some interesting bits about, uh, all the different models, the SRRS, the SRF, the S, the, you know, etc.

etc.

right? And it shows me the range, the charge time, and the speed that they can go.

Neat.

Well, beyond looking at the model, I, you know, the body of the bike, which, again, I don't ride motorcycle, so I don't, I don't know what what I would want here, what's good for an urban commuter? Right? So maybe we're also seeing a job because they don't know what they want, um, or why does the urban commuter want the newest model.

Um, so try to think more about that urban commuter and what's the problem that they have that's creating a problem for our business, right? So perhaps in tuning the business problem statement a little bit more in that way to, to really identify the problem that the customer has that is creating a problem for us.

You're gonna get more towards working that out and, and finding that customer connection which feeds the other elements further, OK? Um, and by the way, if I take a look at it, my guess is, uh, the, the SR class, the S and, uh, and maybe the, the FXE FX looked like perhaps some uh commuter bikes, so I don't know.

Tell me if I'm right later.

OK.

Uh, I'm gonna go up to your proto personas.

And, um, I gave you some feedback on this before.

You already expanded on it a little bit.

I'm just noting that this is your commuter.

Um, so it, it is not your, um, your dirt track racer.

It is not your adventure, uh, biker.

It's not your long range, um, motorcyclist, right, or anything like that.

It's the person who's gotta get to work every day, um, and he's trying to get to and from different places.

Uh, so, You could perhaps flush out some of your demographic, uh, things a little bit more, um, psychographic qualities that would impact the way this person uses your product or services, interesting, right? The differences that make a difference.

Why do they care? What's, what's special about a commuter that wants to commute on a motorcycle, um, and what behaviors and other demographic pieces tie into that? OK, so flush that out maybe a little bit more.

Needs and obstacles, I think you were doing pretty well before and you're, you're calling out both of them.

So that's pretty cool, right? Me charging at work, I thought was really good.

And I think when I looked at the, the FXE bike, it was just what, 110 volt outlet, which makes it really easy to charge at work.

Um, how do you highlight that more? How do you make that part of your experience? How do you connect that in the app and the service to go and say like, hey, you can do this anywhere, right, rather than trying to find The infrastructure that supports charging, um, it's just a plug somewhere.

Do they have to carry a cable with them? Are they finding it? You know, there's, there's lots of things that go along with that too, right? So while, while a physical cable is not a software product, if you're on the software side of Teams.

Maybe there's a bit about how that connects and how you inform people in the future as we start looking at actual solutions, but there's still a problem if they got a charge, and how do we make that better for them, right? And how do we make it so that they can, if they want to commute, and they just need to go, get up on the bike and go.

OK.

Um, so down to to to your objectives and key results, um, some things to highlight here.

I know you were struggling a bit with the objective, you just, you kind of stopped partway through our online pre-order system, right? So, going back to that problem, and if you start thinking of the customer's problem that's going in here, right, uh, like what is, what is the issue that they have that's creating a problem for us.

Then when you start thinking about the objective, you're gonna start thinking about objectives that create a great experience for the customer, that make it um qualitative in nature, that make it um maybe ambitious as well, and that really make it kind of action oriented that a customer wants to go and join us.

Um, I attended a conference years ago where we, we talked about finding your tribe, and, um, and I think as well Simon Sinek talks about it a lot in, in start with why that if people connect with your why, then they're going to get it more connected with your products and services.

Um, they need to feel like part of your tribe, and the objective can help you get there, right? If we're creating the right objective.

Um, that maybe speaks a little bit more towards why would a customer care, right? And, and, and, and what are we going to do for them and when might we go and try to see that done by, um, you're gonna create that, that bigger impact.

You're also gonna create just a better story, a better narrative from the business problem statement.

To the ORs, um, for the executives in, in your, uh, in your business or in your company, um, and, and being able to fund and explore different initiatives to go and create that customer impact, um, and to create and make um solutions that work towards those objectives.

OK.

Uh, now, on to key results, uh, I think some key things to just go and highlight here.

Uh, mostly, you were getting there towards the end, right? I, I started to call that out good to look at the percentages and the ratios, um, because they're, they're pretty key, um, at some point here.

Um, so we want to make sure that we've got those framed out right.

Um.

The other aspects for your key result that you want to start diving into uh said is make sure that they are, um, that they're specific, right? We have that they're time-bound, they're aggressive in nature, they're measurable, they're verifiable, that they give us that that aspect to really understand what's going on here, right? That, um, that we focus on the outcomes of what people are doing and by how much, right? Who does what by how much.

Um, so when I start looking at At some of the key results, especially connected with the objectives here, um, tie back to your core user and persona, right? So who, who does what urban commuters perhaps is some something that needs to start seeing coming in here and you're you're looking at that at that top one.

We're trying to change the behavior of a prospective urban commuter, right? So urban commuters buy our products, urban commuters test them out, right? Um, urban like urban commuters download the app with a demo mode.

Uh, to see what it would be like in their daily life, right? Um, you know, we have, and then likewise, uh, the number of commuters that take test rides or that register for test rides goes up by 50% through the app.

Um, so you're starting to, I think your key results are getting more on point there is if we think about who's doing what, right, and the what of they, they're taking test drives, they're clicking on these things, they're, we can measure this behavior and what that ratio is, you're still in a good spot.

Um, so keep focusing a little bit more then on that customer problem.

That's going to help you with your business problem statement.

It's gonna help you a bit more with your objective, and the key results are all going to start connecting in a little bit smoother.

OK.

Uh, so that's what I got for you for now.

Take a look at this.

I look forward to seeing what additional personas, uh, you identify around maybe that key one there, um, what other objectives, uh, maybe come up that you can, you can write, I wouldn't write too many, maybe, maybe one or two, right, but especially as your business problem changes, if it changes.

Uh, you, you're going to tune that in a little bit more than what you've got here and then, uh, finding those key results that show those measures towards.

Did we actually did we achieve that objective or not? OK, give them a test with your, uh, with, uh, with your co-workers, see what they think about it, see, um, look for their reactions and, and what else you might discover.

Uh, I'm really excited to find, uh, hear what you find.

All right, take care.

always reach out here if you have any questions, I'll talk to you soon