5 Steps To Do A Customer Interview

A visit to the gas station is pointless if you don't put the nozzle in the fuel tank.

"Talking to customers" is an essential activity in product management. But if you're just going through the motions & not extracting value from the interaction, then that's just a missed opportunity.

Customers hold tons of insights but you need to know how to mine them by planning your meetings better.

No, this doesn't mean you need to heavily script your calls. That'll play against you & will disrupt natural discovery.

It means setting up guardrails & ensuring that you don't digress too far from your personal agenda.

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Here's a little process:

1. Choose who you talk to wisely

Every customer delivers a different mileage.

A newly acquired user has better insights on your onboarding flow, a power user can speak about advanced features and a recently churned user can highlight frustrations & competitive forces.

Know what you want from a customer. Also, don't limit yourself to customers who love you. Mix it up.

2. Prepare

There are 6 common objectives for client check-in calls. Choose a couple to focus on. Don't try to cram in everything.

a. Hypotheses validation

Get first-hand confirmation on whether a feature idea or theory you had checks out.

DO NOT start by pitching the feature directly. Verify if the problem that your feature solves exists. Ask them how they solve the issue today.

b. Industry knowledge

Do you need more info on an industry practice? Are there certain regulations you're not clear about? Perhaps you need clarity on internal buying processes?

c. Priority frustrations

You might choose to give the customer a free lease to discuss about their top challenges (and ideas) to understand friction areas. If they can't think of something, ask them when was the last time they used your platform & have them walk through that experience.

Note: Focus on the problem they describe, not the solutions they propose.

d. Discovery questions

Understanding more about a regular day at the customer's office. Where do they spend their time, who do they talk to, dig into emotions, who are they looking to impress?

e. Warm Intros

Are they connected with someone on LinkedIn that might be a great knowledge resource or potential prospect? Plan to ask for an intro.

f. Understanding usage

Review their recent account activity or a feedback survey. Any anomalies there? Do you want to find why a certain number peaked or dropped?

3. Open with small talk. Let them relax. Tell a joke

See more: The Ultimate Guide to Small Talk: Conversation Starters, Powerful Questions, & More

4. Weave in your talking points as per your plan. Ask a series of "Whys" to uncover underlying motivations

5. Close with next steps

Send a minutes of the meeting email summarizing:

- any action points on your end

- tasks at their end (e.g. sharing an industry report, intro etc.)

Maintain a tracker for every customer call to be able to summarize findings for the team.

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In short, don't leave the gas station without fueling up.