Why you should interview customers, and how to do it

Many entrepreneurs are surprised, once they’ve built their solution, that nobody is actually willing to pay for it.

Often, they haven’t spoken to users (or sometimes anyone!) about what they plan to build. Don’t do that.

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Here are some practical tips for conducting user interviews:

TIPS FOR IDENTIFYING YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE (ICP)

• Focus on extracting data, not selling a solution.
• Other than describing the problem try not to talk. Listen!
• Take notes or ask if you can record the session.
• Be careful with people’s time (15 mins is a good guide).
• Understand if this problem is a MAJOR pain point.
• Ask open questions to stimulate conversation.
• Talk specifics not hypotheticals.
• Get real-life examples.
• Understand…
• How the problem started.
• How often they encounter it.
• How much it costs.
• How large is their budget might for solving it.

RECOMMENDED USER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

• What is the hardest part of having this problem?
• Describe the last time you had the problem (cause, context, outcome).
• How did you solve the problem (tools, processes, etc).
• How long did it take?
• Why was this hard?
• What don’t you love about the solutions you’ve already tried?

RECOMMENDED USER INTERVIEW PROCESS

• Read “The Mom Test”.
• Walk through and answer the questions above yourself.
• Try it on friends who you believe suffer from the problem.
• Find more people who fit the ICP (referrals, events, places they gather).
• Complete 10-15 user interviews.
• Review and tweak process.

The above varies from idea-to-idea, but hopefully it’s a useful start.