How to Do Customer Interviews Right

It’s not often that I see someone at the top of their game, but it happened this week. I was working on due diligence for the venture firm I work with. We are involved very early on this particular deal, so we wanted to hear what customers thought personally, rather than through the filter of the CEO.

I spent three days with the CEO of the company and he put on an absolute clinic in how to interview customers and get early commitments for a technology product. While I can’t share any of the details of the idea with you yet, I wanted to share the process I saw him repeat in every meeting for three days straight.

The Process

Here’s the goodies:

• Intro: “I’m so and so from Ajax Software. My background is one of building new technology companies from the ground up, and we’re really excited to be here with you. Thank you so much for taking the time. Before we get started, how much time do we have here today?” – This established credibility without being arrogant and allowed the customer to time box the meeting right then and there.
• Why Are We Here? – “We’ve been working on an idea in the widget space that we think would be beneficial for organizations like yourself. We’re really early in building out the product, and we’d love your honest feedback about the idea. We’ve got thick skin, so please be honest.” – We’re not here to sell you something. We’re here to see if there’s mutual benefit.
• Ask About the Customer and their Current Role – “Can you tell me a little bit about your company, what you do here every day, how you solve your widget problems today?” – These questions let the customer talk about their job, made them feel important, and created opportunities for follow-on questions about the tools they were using today that were related to this company’s product.
• Be Curious – This CEO must have said “Can you tell me more about …?” 20 times in each meeting. Every time he asked a question he would listen to the response, affirm the person talking, and then write down notes on a pad of paper about their answer. He NEVER had his computer open or his phone out, except to demonstrate the idea.
• Soft Close – After a brief demo, he would simply ask “Do you think something like this would be relevant for you and your business?” Invariably in our meetings, the answer was yes. This then led him to the next question…
• Asking For a Commitment – He would close out the meeting by asking if the customer they would be interested in a trial to test the product out. He made it clear that the trial was not free, which tests the customer’s willingness to pay immediately. He would also be clear that the trial would be at a significantly reduced price.
• The Follow Up – At the end of every meeting, he would recap the meeting and the next steps and get agreement on what everyone could expect in the ensuing days and weeks.

His process was so good that I wanted to share it here with the hope that it would bring valuable insights for you as you look to interview customers for your product. Inevitably every meeting went longer than the time allotted because the customers kept asking questions and staying engaged.

Lest you think that the product itself was well-developed, it was not. We were showing a very early prototype in these meetings, but it was sufficient to communicate the idea.

As potential investors, the biggest question we had about this idea was whether or not customers would care. In three days we went a long way toward answering that question.

Your Assignment

Review your customer discovery process. Do you have a script that you follow in every meeting? Are you asking the customer about their problems rather than trying to sell them something? Are you taking extensive notes during your interviews?

What will happen, if you do this process right, is that you’ll have a crystal-clear idea of what you need to build first, and what can probably wait.