How to interpret no feedback?

Question

Nobody is giving me feedback. Over the past year I've had 6 solid "yes, I'll try it" responses from working members of my target market. These people would actually benefit from what I have.

Every single one of them ghosted me. I would follow up with a gentle nudging and get a reply like "I should have time next week", but nothing. Ever.

Getting non-responses individually is fine. But thinking back to all of them as a whole is a real gut punch.

I've interpreted the lack of responses to be that my product is a bad idea and nobody wants to say that to me. Am I wrong to take it this way? It has stopped me from posting the product to PH and I'll probably ending the project this month. But maybe I'm overreacting? Thoughts?

Stefan Morris · Accepted Answer

Do you know if they are using your product and not providing feedback, or simply not trying it out?

If they're simply not trying it out, then I would not conclude that it is a good or bad product - the issue is more about garnering interest.

If they are trying it and not providing feedback (and there is no adoption), I think it's a safe assumption that the product is not quite meeting their needs. That does not mean you have to abandon the project though - it might just mean you need to rethink things.

I'm in a similar boat - I need to get beta testers for my CMS and the little bit of promotion I have done has yielded nothing so far, however - I haven't tried very hard as I am still working out some minor bugs / tech debt etc. My approach is to be patient and consider this a marathon, not a sprint - but that is because I firmly believe in the value of my product... there's already a flourishing CMS market out there.

If your product is unique and opening up a new market then you do have to consider if it is a good idea or not.

Ste · Answer

Nope, unfortunately, you might not be wrong. 
Sounds like a good time to pivot. 
I've recently listened to this YC talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pNxKX1SUGE - the score you'd get from early user interaction would be pretty low from what you've described.

I've been in your shoes and after much deliberation, I decided it's better to let it go. If it doesn't spark immediate interest you'll have a horrible time convincing people to pay for it. 
I've done about 4-5 of these early-stage ideas in the past year and only got a decent pull for 1 of them. The faster I learned to leave what wasn't working behind the faster I started feeling better about the whole process. 
Good luck!

Bogomil Shopov - Bogo · Answer

they are being polite, but probably they are not your target group. How do you know they will benefit from your product without validating it?

Derek Duban · Answer

@stefan_morris they aren't even opening it. Or if they are, not making a recordable actions. I think I have my answer.

Derek Duban · Answer

@bogomep they are probably just being polite then.

Derek Duban · Answer

@stelian_dobrescu1 Yep. Good video. Politeness was the issue I'm sure. The project has given me one good website (which I'll keep) and I'll keep trying to use the core product internally, but I think I've given up on selling it externally. Thanks for the vid.

How to interpret no feedback?

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