Over the past few days, I've reviewed 30 of my old customer interviews. That's about 30 hours worth of footage (painful footage, I might add) and ~100 pages of notes.
It was a healthy shock to the system, reminding me what not to do during customer interviews, as well as the markers of a good customer interview.
Below is the compact version, hopefully helping you save 30+ hours of precious time. I've broken them down into three reminders.
Reminder 1: Don't start with a solution in mind
One of my most common and glaring mistakes early on was to come to customer interviews with an agenda.
It’s easy to see why:
I've scheduled the call to talk about an idea. I believe that idea is valuable. I believe my customers will find it valuable, too. So, I'm gently nudging the interview towards that solution.
Or not so gently, it turns out.
My 'subtle' plan is all too painfully obvious looking back. I'm leading the witness. Cringe.
Here's what to do instead:
Start with the desired outcome. Typically this is a business outcome (financial) or a product outcome (behaviour change).
Focus the interview on the opportunities, not the solution.
For example, let's say our outcome is financial. We want to reduce churn.
We think there might be an opportunity in our dashboards. Our metrics aren't great which means customers don't know how their solution is performing and therefore they churn.
Instead of interviewing our customers about the solution (e.g. "What would you think of a new metric that tracks XYZ?"), focus on the opportunity (e.g. "When was the last time you used metrics?" -> "What happened?", etc.).
Oh, and (re-)read Teresa Torres' work on opportunity-solution trees.
Reminder 2: Don't prepare a script
"Good morning [NAME]. Thank you for being here today. I am here to talk to you about our Dashboards."
Ew.
Again, I know why it’s tempting to script the interview:
Customer interviews can be stressful. I want to come prepared. I don't want to waste my customer's time with meandering questions. I want to get my money's worth, too.
So, I used to:
Start the call with a bit of chitchat.
Throw a few open-ended questions (anxiously waiting to get past this section to the 'good' questions).
Go through a set of 3-5 pre-written questions (that may or may not lead the customer directly to my already-formed hypothesis, wow what are the odds).
Unfortunately, this leads to boring conversations and poor data.
Here's what to do instead:
Start with a bit of chitchat. We're all humans.
Ask an open-ended question related to our targeted outcome and opportunity area based on their actual experience.
Keep the conversation flowing.
Actively listen and engage.
That's it. Simple.
Reminder 3: Don't take notes
Taking notes live is a rookie mistake.
It's distracting. It keeps me ~20 seconds behind the conversation as I'm trying to remember what they just said instead of listening. I'm not engaged or attentive enough.
This along with the pre-written script makes for a very static interview.
Here's what to do instead:
Record the damn interview. Just hit record and then pay attention to the customer you're interviewing. It's not rocket science.
I still keep a notepad nearby. If the customer mentions something interesting I'd like to follow up on, I won't interrupt their flow and write it down instead. I'll circle back to it if it makes sense.
Great insights on keeping the conversation lively and free-flowing. I think using AI tools to record and analyze interviews will also free up more time for you the interviewer which makes the process much more engaging.
I feel your pain watching those old interviews – It's tough, but so valuable for learning. If you're interested, "The Mom Test" by Rob Fitzpatrick is another great, quick read that I found really helpful, especially for improving questioning techniques.