CustDev (short for Customer Development)
This method focuses on researching customer needs through in-depth interviews.
Why Conduct CustDev?
CustDev involves short interviews with potential customers. Questions should be asked only to your target audience, including discussions about future ideas that imply new markets and new audiences. Before launching any minimum viable product (MVP), it’s critical to test your business idea with the intended audience.
Many businesses skip this step, mistakenly believing they already understand the market’s needs. As a result, around 42% of startups fail due to lack of market demand for their product.
How It Helps You
By using CustDev, you gain a clear understanding of how your customer thinks and makes decisions.
You will:
- Build a product that customers truly need
- Reduce CPA (cost per acquisition) through better targeting of customer pain points
- Discover why people aren’t buying from you or why they switch to competitors
CustDev is especially useful when:
- Launching a new product
- Entering new regions or markets
- Scaling an existing product
- Improving marketing and sales strategies
After conducting the research, you’ll stop making decisions blindly — and start acting based on real customer insights.
Our CustDev Service Includes:
We offer this service through a step-by-step process at our agency:
1. Initial Zoom meeting
Purpose: clarify objectives, set success criteria, and align on goals. We’ll also discuss what you want to learn, why now, and how you plan to use the data.
2. Hypothesis development
We help form clear hypotheses to test during interviews.
3. Question and invitation script creation
We write the interview questions and a script to invite respondents.
4. Respondent recruitment and interviews
We reach out and conduct the interviews. Each conversation is designed to help respondents openly share their experiences, thoughts, and emotions related to your product or service. Audio/video recordings are transcribed.
5. Analysis of research results
6. Final report with insights and recommendations
Pricing Tiers
We offer three pricing plans. Each includes a different level of service.
| Economy | Standard | Business | |
| Number of respondents | 10 | 20 | 30 |
| Respondent sourcing | No | Yes | Yes |
| Interview question creation | No | Yes | Yes |
| Hypothesis formulation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Interview recordings | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Analytics report in presentation form | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Invitation script | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Calling your customer database | No | Yes | Yes |
| Full interview transcripts w/ insights | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Value proposition development | No | No | No |
| Timeline | min. 20 days | min. 30 days | min. 40 days |
| PRICE | $833 / 75 000 rub | $1,111 / 100 000 rub | $1,666 / 150 000 rub |
What You’ll Get After the Research
Comprehensive Report
Detailed profiles for each customer segment, including:
- Needs and expectations
- Pain points and emotional triggers
- Behavior patterns
- Potential objections and barriers
- Psychographics
- Decision-making journeys
- Forecasts based on real data
Marketing Recommendations
- Guidance on removing key friction points in the customer journey
- Identification of powerful motivation drivers
- Growth opportunities for two key segments
- A full strategic roadmap, including funnel optimization tips and trust-building strategies