Copy these questions to a new page specific to the individual being interviewed. After you complete 10-15 interviews, begin mapping out the way your customers talk about their pain points, gains and aspirations, and triggers to act/buy.
Use this evidence of customer focus to build your website messaging, sales narrative, and even the way you communicate product value.
For additional questions, contact Alicia Carney at [email protected].
Interview guide:
| Customer Segmentation | Response |
|---|---|
| Who handles [problem area] at your business? Why? | |
| Tell me about your role at [company]? | |
| How much time is spent by your team managing [problem area]? | |
| How do you measure success in your role/team? | |
| Problem Discovery | |
| What’s the hardest part of your day? | |
| What activities take up the most time in your day? | |
| If you had a magic wand, what could be done to improve your experience with [problem area]? | |
| What’s the hardest part about being a [job title]? | |
| What are your biggest/most important professional responsibilities and goals? | |
| What are your biggest/most important personal responsibilities and goals? | |
| Problem Validation | |
| Tell me about your relationship with [problem area] - how much time/effort/energy is spent on it, and why? | |
| How important is [solving the problem] to you? | |
| What would winning at this look like? | |
| What are your biggest obstacles to winning? | |
| What does losing at this look like? | |
| How have you attempted to solve this problem so far? | |
| Product Validation | |
| What do you think of this product? | |
| How would this product solve your problem? | |
| How do you imagine this would change your life? / How has our product changed your life? | |
| What has changed in the last 5 years that has made this much more valuable? | |
| What’s stopping you from making a decision on [solution] or its alternatives? | |
| Understanding their world | |
| Where do you learn about [problem/industry] today? How do you digest news and education? |
e.g. LinkedIn, Instagram/TikTok, IRL meetups, conferences | | | Where would you ideally prefer to learn about [problem/industry]? | | | What do you consider as an alternative to [solution]? | | | Are there any particularly strong reasons for you to evaluate a solution?
e.g. incoming regulation, consumer demand, a growth moment like fundraising, etc. | |