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7 Deceptively Simple Customer Interview Questions That Get You Deep Insights

Photography of Women Talking to Each Other

Customer interviews can be pretty daunting. What should you ask them?

Here are 7 of the best customer interview questions you use to mine solid insights from your customers fast.

You can use these hard-earned nuggets to inform your product creation, your marketing or just string the sentences together to build a killer testimonial for your business.

Note: These are for customers (people who already bought from you).
“X” could your business or product or solution.

  1. What problem were you dealing with when you found X?
  2. How did this problem make you feel?
  3. How did X demonstrate that they understood your problem?
  4. Why did you trust X to solve your problem?
  5. What difference did you notice between X and the competition?
  6. What surprised you about working with X?
  7. What does life look like now that X has solved your problem?

Go on, copy and paste the above 7 questions into your notes. I’ll wait 🙂

Below, you will see the breakdown of what the question is trying to get out of the customer.

  1. What problem were you dealing with when you found X?
    What was the problem that was so nagging or painful that moved them to proactively search for a solution? This gives you great insight as to what are the actual pain points your customer is going through.
  2. How did this problem make you feel?
    Encourage them to pour their heart out. You want to know their most loaded emotions (“felt overwhelmed”, “left in the dark”). Give your customers permission to say what they really feel. It helps you understand them more. And it helps them feel more understood.
  3. How did X demonstrate that they understood your problem?
    Here, you want to find out what your business did or showed to earn your customer’s trust. It could have been your pitch deck, your awards, your social proof, etc.
  4. Why did you trust X to solve your problem?
    This question examines the customer’s justification for trusting you. It could very well be that they saw you a dozen times (you seem familiar to them) or that you came recommended from a friend.
  5. What difference did you notice between X and the rest (their competition)?
    Sounds straight forward — and it is. You want to uncover what they perceive to be the differentiator that made them do business with you over your competitors.
  6. What surprised you about working with X?
    This is oh so good because you get a sneak peek into their “Expectation VS Reality” Frame. For example, they might think that looking from the outside, your way of doing business is very rigid, but really — you are very relaxed. Understanding this slight nuance can very well inform your marketing and your positioning as a business later on.
  7. What does life look like now that X has solved your problem?
    Here, you want your customer to describe the transformation and result they were looking to get as a result of working with you — in as vivid detail as possible. You can use this section to future pace your prospects and sell them on the idea of working with you.

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What are the best customer interview questions you’ve seen or used? Leave a comment below. The rest of us would love to know!

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