Exercise - Getting to Know Your Customer

Split into groups of 3-5 students. Select a company to research. Choose a large, publicly traded company. The groups will then share their findings and discuss the process of researching.

Assume you need this information to bring with you to a meeting. The meeting could be the first meeting with the potential customer; it could be a meeting with your peers to discuss a potential deal.

Learning Objectives

After completing the exercise, you will be able to:

• Find information about potential customers
• Evaluate the value of this information
• Understand how others might complete the same tasks

Exercise 1: Learn About the Customer

Find the following information regarding your selected company. Make sure to take notes so you can share what you’ve found with the larger group. It is not necessary to gather all of the items listed here.

This is an example list of key details that can help you better know your customers.

People

Identify three separate C-level executives:

• Name
• Contact information and/or social media profiles
• Prior work experience
• (Bonus) Educational background

Corporate

• Identify stock symbol and current value
• Locate earnings reports and earnings calls
• Identify key divisions or lines of business
• Identify headquarters and office locations

Culture / News

• Read a recent company press release
• Locate official and unofficial social media accounts
• Find what others are saying about the company in news and social media
• Identify top pain points or challenges

Technology

• Do they have any preferred cloud providers?
• Are there any publicly stated technology preferences?