The problem with "Would you" questions
I see so many people here asking questions like:
Would you use tool X?
and I think it's not a good question to ask. Why?
Let's do a small experiment. Say I'm offering an amazing self-improvement book. I have 2 questions for you:
Would you spent 10 minutes reading this book?
Your answer is probably "yes".
Now, answer this:
Will you spend 10 minutes TOMORROW reading this book?
Uh, well, probably not. Why? You have other things to do. Like running your business. Publishing a new issue for your email newsletter. Going on a date (or seeing your partner).
The first questions tests for importance. The second for urgency. I've noticed that businesses that really succeed tend to solve both important/urgent problems.
Just my 2 cents.
- Lesson: Don't ask questions like "Would you be willing to do X anytime in the future?". Set "anytime in the future" to an actual date (that's in the near future) and ask for actual commitment.
Can't agree more, "Would you use X" will not have the intended effect.
Instead of telling me about the solution, talk about the problem.
If you've seen any infomercial ever, they start with the problem. After the problem becomes relatable, they go for the sales pitch.
So a better question would be "Hey, do you have this problem? .... I have just the solution for it."
Totally agree with you. It's a pain to see when the "Would you" is becoming a norm of false validation (false hope)
Instead, I would always recommend people to ask more "Why", "How" and "When" in order to dig deep into customer behaviour.
I agree with the "Set anytime in the future to and ask for actual commitment", I think it demonstrate id the user has a string commitment on doing X task.
Also I think asking other questions like "How do you achieve X now" (without the service you are trying to sell) or "What do you think it's your goal doing task X" to understand your audience struggles are
Yeah these are pretty good JTBD questions (I think Bob Moesta has a recent book on this).
This comment was deleted 4 years ago
Definitely. I think you should follow up to see if they do what they said. That's the advantage of asking "Will you do X-time-from-now" vs. "Will you do sometime in the future". A great point.