{"id":138,"date":"2021-02-24T21:42:23","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T21:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bak.me\/blog\/?p=138"},"modified":"2021-10-11T04:24:19","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T04:24:19","slug":"how-to-do-customer-development-interviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bak.me\/blog\/how-to-do-customer-development-interviews\/","title":{"rendered":"How to do Customer Development Interviews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The two most important things to remember when doing customer development interviews are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Never Tell Them the Problem let them tell you; if you indirectly hear their problems, you avoid false positives<\/strong><\/li>
  2. Never Tell Them the Solution let them come to their own conclusions about a potential solution<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    If that\u2019s all you do (or don\u2019t do<\/em>), your interviews are going to bear fruits. But as we talked about, customer development interviewing is an art form. And it\u2019s going to take practice to become proficient. You’ll want to develop a good problem context<\/a> for each customer segment before you start interviewing, but let’s run through some other effective strategies that can help you get the most out of your interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Listen, Don’t Talk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    One of the hardest things for human beings is being comfortable with silence. We naturally want to rush in and fill the \u201cspace\u201d between two people talking. Give your interviewee the space to say more. Keep your questions short and never embed the answer you want to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Don\u2019t Ask:<\/strong> \u201cHow often do you walk your dog, 2-3 times per week or maybe more?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Can you see in this question I\u2019ve loaded it with the answer I\u2019m looking for. This isn\u2019t a good idea because you\u2019re likely to hear your answer parroted back to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Instead Try This:<\/strong> \u201cTell me about the last time you walked your dog?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    The second question is open-ended and is likely to lead to a story. It\u2019s possible you won\u2019t hear exactly how often they walk their dog, but you can always chime in and ask them that after they tell you a story. More importantly, they are going to tell you a lot more about dog walking with this question — and you might get lucky and hear a problem in what they say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Now, you\u2019re leading the conversation. That\u2019s what you want to do — lead them; don\u2019t tell them. After all, it\u2019s your questions and your interview. But it\u2019s what your interviewee shares that’s meaningful. Help them help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ask Them to Be Brutally Honest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    You\u2019re looking for real and honest feedback from these interviews. If the baby is ugly, you want them to tell you so. This becomes more difficult the further you are in the process. Think about it. If you\u2019re at the business validation stage, you are less likely to be attached to your idea. But you still want to make them feel safe to share openly and honestly about their experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Since you\u2019re not going to be telling them your idea or the problems you plan to solve, right, they\u2019re fairly likely not to feel bad about saying one thing or another. Let them know you’re just here to learn. Just say you’re on an exploration mission to learn about a particular space or industry or market. You\u2019re not going to take anything personally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sometimes interviewees will be confused or wonder why you’re even talking to them in the first place. After all, they don\u2019t have the context that you do — they don\u2019t know what you’re looking to prove or disprove. It\u2019s ok to tell them you are planning to start a business and you are trying to learn more before you decide what exactly you\u2019re going to create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Incidentally, this often sets them at ease and will make them feel like they are contributing to something important no matter what they share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Don\u2019t Be Afraid of Bad News<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    More than likely you’re going to hear things you don\u2019t want to hear; especially if you talk to enough people. Your goal is to listen and learn — so even if your interviewee doesn\u2019t seem to have the problems you hope they do, don\u2019t worry about that for now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Don\u2019t get caught trying to \u201cconvince\u201d or \u201csell\u201d your idea. And especially don\u2019t hear what you want to hear. This is called \u201cconfirmation bias\u201d and entrepreneurs are especially susceptible to it. This means you are hearing yes, yes, yes, when they are really saying no, no, no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Remember what customer development is for. It\u2019s so you don\u2019t go off and build a business before you have confidence it\u2019s going to work. So hearing bad news is almost as good as hearing good news. At least you won\u2019t spend the next year of your life building something nobody wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Behaviors, Not Feedback<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Your primary job as an interviewer is to get people to open up, but be careful not to lose control. Direct the conversation and keep your interviewee focused on behaviors rather than feature suggestions or feedback. Problems are always tied to behaviors — get them to share stories about their own experiences — that\u2019s how you\u2019ll hear behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    After all, they may not realize they even have a problem. So understanding \u201cwhat they do\u201d and listening to how they explain themselves, will help you match their behaviors to their problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Also remember that you\u2019re not looking for people to tell you solutions to the problems you discover. People are not very good at predicting what they actually want. Your role is to extract enough information and insight to figure out the best solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Later, you can use the same customer development<\/a> principles to validate that solution with actual customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Stories, Stories, Stories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Yes, stories. Stories are the best thing you can hope for in an interview. Stories tell behaviors. Stories show problems. Stories suggest solutions. Stories infer feelings. Everything you want is in the stories your interviewee shares. So go out get them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ask Open Ended and Leading Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    This is a big one. And this is how you get stories. Stay away from binary questions. Binary means something is either a 1 or a 0. In other words, don\u2019t ask Yes or No questions. These types of questions almost never lead to stories. When you ask if someone likes Nike Shoes, they will almost certainly tell you either yes or no. And that\u2019s not helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Instead you want to ask open ended questions that might lead them to tell you what they like about shoes in general. It\u2019s more important to learn that they like shoes with neon colors, that have velcro straps, that last a long time, that don\u2019t scuff up the court, that are affordable and that can be easily washed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To get all that and more, you couldn’t possibly make a list of all the yes or no questions to gather every detail that is important to someone about shoes. Let them tell you those things in a story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Instead, ask them questions like:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. \u201cWhat kinds of shoes do you like\u201d<\/li>
    2. \u201cWhat do you like best about the shoes in your closet\u201d<\/li>
    3. \u201cHow do you find new shoes\u201d<\/li>
    4. \u201cWhat frustrates you about buying shoes\u201d<\/li>
    5. \u201cWhat motivates you to buy new shoes\u201d<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Sometimes it will be hard to avoid asking yes or no questions. And sometimes people just won\u2019t give you stories or go into detail. Be ready for this and follow up with interrogative words — I love that word interrogative<\/em>. It means \u201chaving or conveying the force of a question\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Here\u2019s what I mean. Remember back to grade school when you learned the Five W\u2019s —<\/strong> Who, What, When, Where and Why. This is very similar to the Toyota Production System and the the Five Why\u2019s I outlined in this post<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Go ahead and use this approach; get ready to be childish again — and ask follow up questions until you get the full picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Of course, you\u2019ll need to tailor your questions to the context of the conversation, but after a little bit of practice you\u2019ll find it\u2019s actually pretty easy — if a five year old can do it, so can you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      And try phrasing these questions in a way that doesn\u2019t feel like they\u2019re being interrogated. Remember, you\u2019re having a conversation — they\u2019re not on trial for buying the wrong pair of shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      One of the reasons customer development happens in conversations with people and not surveys is because of the tone and intonation you can add with your voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Listen to these questions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. \u201cThat\u2019s terrible, who<\/strong> else do you think this happens to?\u201d<\/li>
      2. \u201cOh, I didn\u2019t know that, what<\/strong> does it feel like when that happens?<\/li>
      3. \u201cHuh, so what do you do when<\/strong> that happens?\u201d<\/li>
      4. \u201cVery interesting, where<\/strong> are you normally at when that occurs?<\/li>
      5. \u201cI see, why<\/strong> do you think that is?\u201d<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Can you hear the emotion in my voice? You can\u2019t get that from a survey question. These types of questions, asked with intonation, will help draw your customer out of binaryland and into storyville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Drill Down, Dig Up and Lean In<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Anytime something tweaks your melon, dig in with follow up questions. This is another place you can try the Five Why\u2019s I talked about earlier. And why? And why? And why? And so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Be careful not to annoy your interviewee, but don\u2019t be afraid to be a little childish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        And, when you \u201clean in\u201d something else happens. It shows people that you’re interested in what they\u2019re saying. You are hearing them<\/em>, and everyone wants to be heard. So when you lean in, people tend to perk up and share even more. Leaning in means, literally leaning in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Get closer to your interviewee; even if you are on a Zoom call you can still adjust your body to make your interviewee feel your intention. If you\u2019re on the phone, it will be harder — so when possible, do customer development interviews in person or on video calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Parrot Back to Clarify and Expand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Sometimes it\u2019s helpful to repeat back what you hear in interviews. This technique is called \u201cparroting back\u201d. This can be an effective way to both clarify what you heard and it also gives the person an opportunity to reflect on what they just said. You\u2019ll frequently get back a more detailed or thoughtful response when you do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        After some practice, you\u2019ll probably find some of these strategies work better than others. And you might find a few more that I didn\u2019t even mention. Find your own style — stick with what works and forget the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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