Do Penguins Eat Peaches?: And other unexpected ways to discover what your customers want

by Katie Tucker

Overview

**Business Book Awards 2024: Highly Commended**

Why are customers so damn fickle? They say one thing, do the other. They change their minds. Give you false hopes. Keep you guessing. But without them there is no business.

Finding out what your customers want needn't be potluck. Do Penguins Eat Peaches? demystifies big-business market research tools, tips and tricks for you, the smaller business. With smaller budgets. Smaller teams. Those of you who want to do right by your customers but need a little help with the how.

From sending smart surveys and asking quality questions to desk research and the rise of social listening, this book teaches you how to discover what your customers want.

Katie Tucker is an inspirational product leader with over twelve years’ experience leading teams and delivering stand-out products and services. In 2020 she founded Product Jungle, helping hundreds of businesses understand customers better. She is also a mentor, speaker and the pen behind the popular newsletter Jungle Juice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781788605618
Publisher:	Practical Inspiration Publishing
Publication date:	10/17/2023
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Katie Tucker is an inspirational product leader with over twelve years’ experience in leading teams and delivering stand-out products and services. In 2020 she founded Product Jungle, helping hundreds of businesses understand customers better. She is also a writer, speaker and the pen behind the popular newsletter Jungle Juice.

Table of Contents

List of stretch tasks

Preface

Jungle Juice

Foreword

Introduction

Who is this book for?

Democratizing skills for smaller businesses

What is market research and why do we need it?

Good enough research

How well do you know your customers?

Make small your superpower

How to read this book

What you’ll learn

Why me?

Chapter 1: I made the front page of The Sunday Times and failed, and seven ways market research will improve your business

You are not your customer

Assumptions kill dreams

The sunk cost fallacy

Knowing your customer is a practice

Seven ways market research will improve your business

Stretch task #1

Stretch task #2

Chapter 2: Ego, excuses and the fear of failure: what’s holding you back?

Market research excuses

Fear of failure

Ego

Stretch task #3

Chapter 3: The explorer’s toolkit: curiosity, empathy and courage

Curiosity

Empathy

Courage

Chapter 4: I met Alcatraz prisoner 1259, talking to customers and how to just ask

What is a customer interview?

When to use customer interviews?

Where to find people?

Stretch task #4

How to ask

Incentives

Getting over yourself

Creating a discussion guide

During the interview

After the interview

Chapter 5: The mother of all theories and there is such a thing as a stupid question

Jobs to be done (JTBD) theory

What are your customers trying to get done?

Five golden rules for asking quality questions

Chapter 6: The art and science of sensemaking

What is sensemaking?

Why do we need it?

When to do it?

What you need

How to do it

Outliers

Chapter 7: Stop sending shitty surveys

What is a survey?

When should you use a survey?

Build surveys people fill in

Work backwards

Make something happen

Sample sizes and response rates

Which platforms to use?

Chapter 8: Learn about customers in your pyjamas and how to win at desk research

What is desk research?

Where to look?

Keeping one eye on the competition

Get started

Stretch task #5

Chapter 9: Can I pick my friend’s nose? And how to be a digital spy

Being a digital spy

Where should you look?

Search listening tools

Scared of robots?

Chapter 10: Stop asking for five-star feedback

What is customer feedback?

Feedback formats

How to ask for it

How to take it

How to use it

Testimonials and reviews

How to give it

Chapter 11: Small business testing

Quick and dirty testing

What’s your skateboard?

Testing price

Chapter 12: When not to listen to customers

Reason 1: The customer is not aligned with your business values

Stretch task #6

Reason 2: When the rewards are teeny-weeny

Reason 3: Someone else is doing it (much) better

Reason 4: You just don’t want to do it

Reason 5: You don’t have the bandwidth

Chapter 13: Three ways to make it happen and staying on the right side of the law

Option 1: The stone

Option 2: The peach

Option 3: The penguin

Staying on the right side of the law

When to hire the pros

Conclusion

Do penguins eat peaches?

Question Bank

Themes to explore with customers

Useful links

Contributor bios

Acknowledgements

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

If you’re poised to launch your own business, this is the book for you. Nothing is more important than understanding your customer, and nothing is what you’ll achieve if you don’t. Do Penguins Eat Peaches? gives example after example of why market research is vital to business success and how you can put it into practice. Nick North CMRS, Director of Audiences, BBC

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a valuable resource on how to understand your customers. Do Penguins Eat Peaches? is straightforward, easy to understand and practical. Katie provides great examples that help illustrate the concepts and make them more relatable. This book is a must-read for anyone looking to improve market research knowledge and skills, and it is perfect for both beginners and experts alike. Jeremy Weil, Head of Product at The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), The Economist

There has never been a more vital time to know and connect with customers. When small business owners have intense competition for their attention, market research can get left behind. In this book Katie Tucker advises that is not wise! The book comes complete with encouragement and top tips on how to get closer to customers and secure the all-important sales. It’s a must-read for any modern-day small business owner. Emma Jones CBE, founder of Enterprise Nation

As a founder, one skill will help you succeed almost more than any other. And that is to ask the questions that no one else is asking. So you arrive at the answer that no one else could. Understanding customers is all about asking the right questions. That is how you will win. This book will teach you that precious skill. David Hieatt, co-founder of The Do Lectures and Hiut Denim Co, and author of Do Purpose and Do Open

A super-relevant read for businesses of all sizes. Katie Tucker simplifies and demystifies the world of customer research and provides real practical steps on how to use it to make better business decisions. Do Penguins Eat Peaches? reminds us that understanding what customers really want should be at the heart of everything businesses do. Nick Unsworth, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development, Getty Images

This book is a must-gift for entrepreneurs everywhere. Katie offers a secret sauce for business growth: uncovering what customers really want. Diana Kander, New York Times bestselling author of All in Startup and keynote speaker on Curiosity

Do Penguins Eat Peaches? is a much-needed book. It levels the playing field between larger corporations, who often have better access to resources and know-how, and smaller businesses and entrepreneurs. Filled with practical advice and examples, this book will radically change the way you see your customers. Jane Frost CBE and CEO of the Market Research Society (MRS)

This book is a must-read for all small businesses. Packed with practical advice on how to understand customers so you can build products and services that sell. Tim Adler, Group Editor of Small Business, Growth Business and Information Age at Stubben Edge

Editorial Reviews

If you run a small business, are a freelancer, need to do any sort of marketing or customer research, then you NEED this book! - LinkedIn

This is a really great business book on a little discussed topic. It has an energetic prose style choc full of expertise, insights and mindset shifts. It’s a brilliant guide to creating a mutually rewarding relationship with the most important people in your business - your customers. - Amazon

Katie Tucker's book is rammed with practical, unexpected ways to find out what your customers want. It's the kind of book you can turn to again and again. One for the small business book shelf! - Amazon

Absolutely loved this book. A refreshing, easy-to-understand guide to doing simple but effective market research...It’s written in an accessible (and often funny) style, and shows that you don’t need a big corporate budget or loads of time to find out what your audience really wants. Essential reading for small businesses and budding entrepreneurs. - Amazon

The book gives great tips on how to do market research – how to interview clients properly, for example – but also, crucially, what to do with the insight they give you. Honestly, I wish I’d had this book years ago. Go and buy it, I reckon you won’t regret it. - LinkedIn

It's not just that this book is incredibly well written, but EVERY SINGLE PAGE has a golden nugget you can implement in your business...Katie makes what could be a dry subject really easy to understand, and provides tasks and ideas for you to start implementing straight away. - Amazon

It’s got all the signs of being a well-thumbed, constant companion on the desk of every kind of business owner. And that’s a very good thing for the business world. - Freelancer magazine

An exceptional book in getting to the heart of discovering what your customers want, and written in a way I've not read a business book before. It's direct, emotive, relatable and packed with insights, resources and top tips on how to get closer to your customers. - Carrie Swatten, LinkedIn

From the Publisher