Customer-Led Strategy New segments
Which new customers are winnable?
Customer-led segment selection decides who to serve next by testing whether a candidate group wants what you are good at, rather than whether it exists in sufficient numbers. Size is easy to establish and is rarely the real constraint. The questions that matter are whether the group can be reached, whether your proposition means anything to them, and what you would have to change to earn them without damaging what you already have. MindMarket goes and asks them.
THE SITUATION
Is this your situation?
- A segment looks big and attractive in the data, and nobody in your business has ever spoken to a single person in it.
- Your core customer base is ageing, or narrowing, and the group that should replace it is not obvious.
- You serve two groups reasonably well and are being pulled towards a third, and you are not sure the pull is worth following.
HOW WE WORK
How does MindMarket approach new segments?
- We define what winning this segment would require of you. Before we go and meet anyone, we agree with your team what "winning" this group would involve, and what you would and would not be willing to change to get there. That keeps the research clear about the cost of the answer.
- We meet the candidate group where they are. We go and spend time with the people in the segment, in their own context, alongside your existing customers, so the comparison between the two is real rather than imagined.
- We recommend who to serve next, and what it costs you in focus. You get a recommendation on which segment to pursue, what it would take from you in focus and change, and what your current customers would make of it, so the decision is taken with the whole picture in view.
THE DELIVERABLE
What do you get?
- A recommendation on which segment to serve next, with the reasoning written out so it can be challenged.
- What that group genuinely values, in their own words rather than in the language of a persona document.
- The changes it would require of you, and a clear view of which of them are reversible.
- The risk to your existing customer base, stated plainly.
- All of it as a Decision Case: one short written recommendation on the decision above, with the evidence under each claim, in a form your board can act on.
METHODS
Which research methods do you use for new segments?
Typically in-depth interviews and ethnographic research, with online bulletin boards when the group is spread across markets.
QUESTIONS
Strategy questions, answered straight
How do you test whether a new customer segment is winnable?
We test a segment by meeting it where it is: in-depth interviews and ethnographic visits with people in the candidate group, in their own setting, and an online bulletin board when the group is spread across countries. The question is whether they want what you are good at, what they would need you to change, and what it would cost you with your existing customers. Size is easy to establish and is rarely the constraint; wanting is.
How long does a segment study take?
A segment question runs as First Listen in two to three weeks when the group is in one market and easy to reach. Rare or spread-out groups, or several candidate segments compared side by side, run as Deep Listen, eight to twelve weeks, with a decision workshop on which segment to serve next.
Do you do segmentation?
We do the qualitative work that tells you what a segment is made of and whether it is worth pursuing. Statistical segmentation is a different exercise, and it is often better done after this work rather than before it.
We already have personas. Is this still useful?
Usually, yes. Personas describe who people are. This tests whether they want what you sell, which is a different question, and the one that carries the risk.
What does new segment research cost?
Segment research is priced per market on our pricing page; the incidence rate, the share of people who qualify for the group, is the figure that moves the cost most, and our quote states it. Most segment decisions run as First Listen. The strategy work is quoted after the framing conversation; your itemised quote arrives within 48 hours.
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