Course 3.3: Customer Interviews | 15 Tips for Conducting Better Customer Interviews: Tips 9-15

3.3.  15 Tips for Conducting Better Customer Interviews: Tips 9-15

So far we’ve covered tips 1-9 for Conducting Better Customer Interviews.

Tip #10 is: leave your beliefs at the door.

This is something I’ve learned the hard way.

Early on, when I was doing customer interviews, I’d ask the customer a question about the problem we’re trying to solve, and I’d hear them say something I wanted them to say.

So then, I’d jump in and say, “Oh yeah, that’s exactly why we’re doing this. That’s amazing, I’m so glad you said that.” I’d have this excitement going, and that would tell my subjects what I wanted to hear from them.

Your job as the interviewer is to gather information from your subject. It’s not your job to react to anything they say. Your reaction may sway what you hear from your subject, which defeats the purpose of the interview!

It’s easy to fall into this trap, especially if you’re new to conducting interviews. If you’re not sure if you do this, keep an eye out for these signs:

- Talking over your subjects

- Asking your subjects questions that gives them the answers you are looking for

- Jumping to conclusions

If you catch yourself doing any of these things, take a step back, take a deep breath, and shift to a more neutral approach.

Tip #11 is to ask the same question in different ways.

Here’s what I see with a lot of subjects: they’ll answer your questions without fully understanding what you’re trying to ask.

Ask your questions in a different way, and your subject will think about them differently.

That way, you’ll get more accurate information.

Take a look at your interview scripts and highlight key phrases in each question, then practice saying the question in different ways. For example: during the customer interview I have done while working on Publishnow, I'd ask:

"What are the challenges your teams face in the content production process?"

If a customer says there aren't any, I would also ask:

"Is there anything you would like to change in your current content production process?

And then, I would even follow up with:
"In the ideal world, what would your content creation process look like?"

All three of these questions are probing customers on how they see challenges in the current process, what they would like to improve, and how they see this process in an ideal world. Another good way to fix this problem is to paraphrase their answers back to them.

It shows that you are listening and it also helps them clarify their answer if you’ve understood it incorrectly. For example, a subject once told me that customer marketing wasn’t really important to them.

I responded, “So you say content marketing isn’t that important to you, am I getting that right?” Then, they explained what that meant with more context so I could fully understand.

Tip #12: look for problems that can be solved and successes that can be replicated.

From the amount of information you’ll get from talking to subjects, solvable problems and replicable successes are going to be the most useful to you.

Why are they so useful?

Because they provide invaluable data on how you can help other customers solve the same problem or replicate the same successes.

If you can integrate this feedback into your product, you’re going to be able to have a much bigger impact on your future customers.

One of the most difficult parts of conducting interviews is being an active listener. It’s easy to get caught up thinking about what you’re going to say next, or how you might respond to what they’re saying.

You might struggle with habits like spacing out, or looking at your phone, or browsing the web while the customer is talking. Practice focusing 100% of your attention on the person you are interviewing.

Tip #13: Practice active listening

So tip #13 is to combat these distractions by being an active listener. Focus on asking follow-up questions and take bullet points as your subject speaks. You also have your call recording in case you miss something in your bullet points.

Tip #14: Be respectful of your customer’s time.

When you’re conducting your interview and notice that there are only a few minutes left, be sure to acknowledge that. “I see that we’re coming to the end of our scheduled time. I just have one last question I want to ask…” and then thank them once they’ve wrapped up with their answer. If you still have questions left at this point, you could say “The insights you're sharing are so valuable.

I know we only have a few minutes left, but I'd love to ask you just a couple more questions.

Would you mind if we stay for another 5 minutes?” If they say yes, keep going -- but don’t go any further than five minutes.

If they can’t talk for any longer, wrap up the conversation and then send a follow up email to see if they’d be willing to talk again for a quick call.

If they’re passionate about the topic, and you feel like the initial call went well, they might be open to it.

Either way, the important thing here is to respect your subject’s busy schedule and acknowledge their time.

Your subject gave up their time to answer your questions.

It’s your job to keep track of time and wrap up on schedule.

Finally, tip #15 is --  end your interview on a strong note.

Steve Blank has two great recommendations for this. The first is to ask people to connect them to others at their company that we should be talking to. A great way to keep building your interview pipeline!

The second is to ask if they have any other questions they think we should have asked them. This allows your subjects to share information they might have been thinking about, but that you didn’t get to because of the way you directed the conversation. This helps you uncover some potentially powerful information!

And those are 15 Tips for Conducting Better Interviews. Let's recap them:

1. Research the person you are interviewing.

2. Make sure your team members are prepared for the interview.

3. Be prepared and be on time

4. Briefly introduce yourself and explain goals

5. Ask for permission and record the interview

6. Create a comfortable environment.

7. Your interview should not feel like an interview at all. It should be a conversation.

8. You’re in control of the conversation. It’s up to you to direct it.

9. Embrace the silence.

10. Leave your beliefs at the door.

11. Ask the same question in different ways.

12. Look for problems that can be solved and successes that can be replicated.

13. Practice active listening

14. Be respectful of your customer’s time.

15. End your interview on a strong note.

Now let’s head over to the next section where we’ll talk about analyzing feedback from interviews.

Checklist:

15 Tips for Conducting Better Customer Interviews

• Research the person you're interviewing
• Include your team members in your interviews
• Be prepared and on time for your session
• Introduce yourself briefly and share your goals
• Ask for permission to record the interview
• Build rapport by being personable and engaging
• Direct the conversation as needed
• Embrace silence to give subjects space to respond
• Ask for specifics
• Leave your beliefs at the door
• Ask the same question in different ways for clarification
• Look for problems that can be solved and successes that can be replicated
• Practice active listening
• Be respectful of your subject's time
• Close strong by asking for referrals or follow-up