This story and guide explain how we managed to get over 15+ customer calls with zero monetary incentive targeting the B end of a B2B2C tutoring platform.

Why

Starting in late April and early May, Thomas and I set out to build a tutoring platform. We needed to talk to both ends of our customer segments, which meant setting up lots of calls.

But heres the catch: why would anyone want to spend their time talking to you without being paid?

We didn’t want to spend money, so we needed volume. And honestly, we needed even more than expected because as we later learned we messed up at the start (pro tip: read The Mom Test).

The Problem

Talking to students was relatively easy, I am a college student with plenty of friends willing to help for free*.

Tutors, though? Not so much.

Thomas had been a tutor but not super recently, and I had zero experience. We had to brainstorm:

1. Where do you even find tutors?
2. What type of tutors do we want?
3. Why would they take the call?

Since we were building an online tutoring platform, we wanted to talk to online tutors. Our pitch?

We told tutors the conversation could help them make more money and be part of building something new. Not the strongest call to action, but with enough volume, it could still work.

The Solution

Then Thomas had a big brain moment: competitors.

Platforms like TutorOcean and Wyzant allow you to message tutors directly, and these tutors are already incentivized to respond quickly.

So, the plan:

• Send messages to relevant tutors.
• Expect a low response rate, but make up for it with volume.
• Use a bit of automation to make the outreach manageable.

Conclusion

After a bit of persistence, we completed all the calls we needed. Success.

When you’re just starting, getting those first customer conversations is the hardest part. Especially if you dont have someone already in that niche. Be creative, think about where your target customers already are, and look for ways to outsmart the systems in place.

*Not totally free, Did some gift card giveaways.