How To Conduct Customer Interviews And Gain Vital Growth Insights (Free Template - Field-Tested)
Back in my day's hatchery I was frequently involved in the validation of critical hypotheses.
One of my favorite methods to gather feedback: customer interviews.
Why?
Because asking potential customers the right questions will lead to incredibly valuable insights.
Often times you will identify potentials you haven't thought about yet.
It's fairly important to notice that only with the right questions you gather "real" and "unfiltered" feedback.
❌ Don't ask questions like: "Hey we developed this new feature, do you like it?"
✅ Instead, go for the intent, and search for the Interviewees pains. Only use his/ her words to write down your notes. Avoid the interpretation of statements because you might be biased.
To get unfiltered feedback I build an interview framework around this topic. You see a preview of this down below.
This framework was used for a lot of projects including the newest earlybird coffee GmbH shop research, variations of it for validation project with companies such as Mercedes Benz, Sparkasse, EnbW...
Here is the link to the google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tRcP2_KHCqK2fu0pwwPOo45WaGVpga2fSiqoXNQaV3w/edit?usp=sharing
Feel free to use it for your own project.
Anything else to add? How do you conduct customer interviews?
These questions seem pretty good to get unfiltered feedback, but then the next question is, how do you avoid filtering the feedback yourself with your own biases when it comes time to make a decision? Or even just being unable to make the connections?
I like to extract insights, weigh them, and cluster them in a diagramming tool so the true patterns just stare at me in the face, and I can't ignore them. But I've been building Notitia to automate this process and visualize patterns and connections in my CD notes that I didn't even think about.
I'm curious, beyond just gathering insights, how do you approach analyzing and making sense of it all?
I've personally done probably 200 customer intervies, so I am happy to meet a person who is in the same activity :)
I am however hesitant about the "what would you change" question. It doesn't reveal the real intention. It's like talking about "what would you do if you had ten million dollars" while the person is facing unreal situation.
Curious to know why you have this question on your list!
Hey Valerie,
That's an impressive amount and thanks for your comment! Well, honestly I'm not quite sure where you are. Do you referre to the last sentence? If so, I'd like to hear what you would ask instead - happy to hear what you think!
Cheers
I just avoid the "would" questions.
After a few interviews I come up with insights
And then I iterate the prototype or the interview itself
The customer interview is always about the past experience - that's the rule