The Way You’re Thinking About Early Adopters Is Likely Wrong
Let's clarify the definition of early adopters. Early adopters are …
Decision-makers who take risks on people
Willing to conduct quick and lightweight tests, likely seeing it as a 'project' at first
Actively seeking a competitive advantage/edge over competitors/incumbents
Have momentum behind them, i.e., new role, new initiatives, growing team, new investors, a problem recently widened, etc.
Likely from a higher margin industry (i.e., have the ability and room to experiment)
They are on the left side of the metaphorical "Chasm" under "Early Market." (see image below)
These individuals are willing to adopt a partially developed product, provide feedback, and, most importantly, trust YOU (the Founder) when others might be suspicious of you. If you deliver, they are more than excited to share with their network AND provide you with references/case studies — it's also a great way for them to gain visibility in the market as someone able to spot talent/value :)
Early adopters are crucial in accelerating access to a broader addressable market - i.e., the entire right side of The Chasm - the "Mainstream Market".
First, Let’s Better Understand Early Adopter Motivations.
1. Past Efforts + Historical Attempts
Beware, many misinterpret feedback when a prospect expresses excitement about a product or concept (e.g., "This is cool!"). This statement all too often can be a negative signal. The term "cool" often serves as a filler. It's used when someone cannot tie their thoughts to something concrete or is unwilling to commit. Most people avoid giving negative feedback and resort to the non-committal "cool," OR they may even suggest they need to see X,Y,Z to buy today — see what they did: kick-the-can …
Initial enthusiasm can mislead, sending you down a path riddled with meeting exhaustion and no results. Thus, validating enthusiasm with evidence of buying intent is critical to navigate this.
How?
Dig into how this individual invested time and effort in the past few months or quarters to try and overcome a particular gated goal (i.e., blocked due to X) or solve a specific problem.
If no attempts have been made, dig into why — chances are they're likely not an early adopter — i.e., low urgency. Past behaviors/historical attempts are THE leading indicators of an early adopter.
2. Alpha and Social Cred
Early adopters want the competitive edge and social credibility that adopting new ways of solving can shine on them. Everyone wants to be the individual who brings in a new way of working that unlocks differentiated value (e.g., access to lower risk, lower cost, alternative data, moving faster, increasing odds of unlocking more $$$) for an organization that hasn't been harnessed before.
But they must be in a position to experiment. This is traditionally — but, not always — seen amongst higher-margin industries (e.g., Financial Services, Software/Tech, etc.) …
Some common characteristics to look for where momentum is being built and experiments are more likely accepted:
Directly own a budget (i.e., direct access to $$$$) — has permission
Worked with startups in previous roles/organization(s)
In a new role
Growing their team (i.e., open recs)
Unlocking a new product or new market (i.e., new launch)
The problem is widening — direct, measurable implications
3. Living in The Future
As you advance to the right of the bell curve, the ability to stomach risk becomes diminished.
“The difference between the early majority (i.e., pragmatists) and early adopters is that early B2B majority are “more motivated by not getting fired than living in the future.”
Mike Maples Jr.
In other words, future later-stage adopters have a herd mentality and want to know if a new product is a safe bet.
The early adopters want to know if a new, different way of working can help them advance — in their current role, career, and amongst their internal peers.
The folk(s) across the mainstream market are well known for saying, “No one gets fired for hiring IBM.”
How to sell to early adopters
Identifying and understanding early adopters is a pivotal step to selling to them.
Founder-led Sales.
Without a fully built product and proof, the market bets on YOU. Access to the Founder and being sold by a visionary is one of your few competitive advantages at this stage. Use it! Your vision can ignite a fire in someone to take action; never delegate this. Founders have the highest odds of turning a non-consumer into a consumer.
Use the Paradox of Specificity.
Outline a specific target market and use case to build a value proposition. Finding a niche attracts stronger followings in the absence of brand equity and $ $ $ $ of marketing spend. You should seek to elicit a market response of: “Wow, I feel like this was built just for me.”
Lightweight and Easy
They will likely perceive the initial relationship as a 'project' to test and validate quickly. Ensure you break it down into monthly OR quarterly values — align and set a concrete goal for success within the first 90 days. It will likely turn them off if they feel it will take longer than that to see value.
Conclusion
That spark of insanity can vicariously be felt by the market when speaking to Founders. That excitement is what early adopters buy into, albeit if it's aligned with a problem they recognize.
As always --- It doesn’t live on the shoulders of your product (this is the most abstract part of the equation), but their belief in YOU as a subject matter expert.
