Customer interviews: the questions to ask

If you ask people whether they like your idea, most will say yes to be nice. A good customer interview avoids that trap. You talk about their life and their problem, and you barely mention your solution.

Three rules

• Ask about the past, not the future. What someone did last month is a fact. What they say they'll do is a guess.
• Talk about their problem, not your idea. Save the pitch for the end, if at all.
• Listen more than you talk. Aim for them speaking 80% of the time.

Questions to ask

• Tell me about the last time you ran into this problem. What happened?
• How did you deal with it? What did you try?
• What does it cost you today, in time, money or stress?
• Have you paid for anything to solve it? Why that, and why not something else?
• What's the hardest part about it?
• How often does it happen?
• Who else is involved when it comes up? Who decides what to buy?
• If you could wave a magic wand, what would change?
• Who else should I talk to about this?

Questions to avoid

• "Would you use an app that...?" Everyone says yes.
• "How much would you pay for this?" People guess low or high, never accurate.
• "Don't you think it would be great if...?" A leading question gets the answer you want, not the truth.

How to run it

1. 1
   Keep it short20–30 minutes, ideally a call or in person. Ask for advice, not a sale: people like helping.
2. 2
   Two people, one talksIf your co-founder joins, one asks questions and the other writes notes word for word.
3. 3
   Dig deeperWhen something sounds important, ask why, and then ask for an example.
4. 4
   Write it up the same dayThree bullets: the biggest pain, what they do today, and the strongest quote.
5. 5
   Ask for a next stepCan you show them something in two weeks? Can they introduce you to a colleague? A yes is a signal.