Hi there -
Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean…
1 Universal Principle
“Customer decisions aren’t rational or irrational. They are driven by basic laws of physics."
Just like Newton’s laws of motion, customers, too, are subject to forces. And until the forces pushing them away from their current solution exceed the forces pulling them back, they won’t move.”
Tell me if this sounds familiar? Everyone was wowed by our demo. But no one bought.
This happened to me 17 times before I realized I was missing something fundamental. I was pitching to potential customers who said they loved our solution at WiredReach, and said it was exactly what they needed. Three weeks later: “Thanks, but we’ve decided to stick with our current process.”
Here’s the expensive reality: Having an amazing product isn't enough because it influences just one of 3 other forces that govern the purchase decision.
2 Underlying Strategies at Play
I. Understanding the Four Customer Forces Formula
Customer physics work according to a simple equation: A prospect will buy if (Push + Pull) > (Inertia + Friction).
FORCE #1: PUSH - This force is triggered by an external event, often caused by frustration with the status quo, a pain that’s getting worse, problems that start costing time and money, or some external pressure to change, like regulatory changes. Most founders never take the time to really understand PUSH, which is the underlying motivation for change.
FORCE #2: PULL - This is where founders attempt to attract prospects to their new capabilities and promise them better outcomes through emotional appeal and rational benefits. However, unless the prospect is already primed for change, they often downplay or completely ignore these benefits due to the next two forces.
FORCE #3: INERTIA - Represents our resistance to change. All objects at rest prefer to stay at rest (Newton’s first law of motion). These are the stories playing out in the prospect’s mind: “We’ve always done it this way,” “Our current solution isn’t that bad,” “Change is hard,” or “Good enough is good enough.”
FORCE #4: FRICTION - Fear/anxiety of trying something new: “What if it doesn’t work?” “What if we waste time and money?” “What if it’s harder than promised?” “What if we look stupid?”
Unfortunately, it’s worse than this because of the principle of loss aversion discovered by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.
People tend to feel losses (or negative forces) more intensely, sometimes 2-3 times more, than equivalent gains (or positive forces). This means prospects will exaggerate their inertia and fear while downplaying your claims.
(Push + Pull) > 3*(Inertia + Friction)
II. Optimizing All Four Forces in Your Pitch
The key to creating an offer your customers cannot refuse (a 'mafia offer') is dialing in all four forces.
Before (Pull-only selling at 10% close rate): This is where you lead with an amazing demo, emphasize cool technology, and focus on features and benefits.
After (All 4 forces optimized at 89% close rate): This is where you weave all four forces into a carefully scripted story pitch narrative.
3 Actionable Tactics
I. Conduct Customer Forces Interviews (10-20 prospects)
Unless you’re a mind-reader, the best and easiest way to uncover these forces is through customer forces interviews. You don’t need to interview hundreds of prospects — somewhere between 10 and 20 is all you need to collect the raw information you need. Sure, it’s possible to take a guess at these forces, but the nature of new products is that we often don’t know what we don’t know.
II. Map and Segment Your Customer Forces
This is where you segment your customers to identify ideal early adopters primed for change, and rank the most influential forces to emphasize in your pitch and MVP. Use what you learn, not guess, to understand which forces are strongest for which customer segments.
III. Assemble and Deliver Your Mafia Offer
Craft a carefully scripted product pitch that hits on all 4 forces:
- Pushes them to act,
- Pulls them towards your solution,
- Overcomes their Inertia, and
- Closes the deal by eliminating Friction.
When you switch from a demo-focused pitch to a story-driven pitch, you lead your prospects down a more predictable path where you can measure their reactions along the way, set them up to buy, or tell you why — both help you continually optimize your offer.
You move from hoping they are impressed and buy to knowing they will.
That’s all for today. See you next week.
Ash Author of Running Lean and creator of Lean Canvas
P.S. Ready to map your customer forces?
Check out my most ambitious project to date: LEANSpark - An AI co-founder that helps you design, analyze, and extract customer forces insights from customer conversations, and a lot more...
I'm building this product publicly, and it will launch in January 2026. You can get on the early access list here.
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P.P.S. Check out this week’s video: The 4 Secret Forces That Make Customers Buy
