How to run customer discovery interviews that give you useful answers

Who to talk to, what to ask and what to avoid in early customer interviews, so you learn about real problems instead of collecting polite compliments.

By Prathmesh Soni. Published .

Key takeaways

  • Ask about what people have actually done in the past, not what they say they would do in the future.
  • Avoid pitching during discovery. The moment you pitch, people start being polite.
  • Look for patterns across many conversations rather than acting on one strong opinion.

Who should you interview?

People who match the customer you think you are building for, and ideally the person who would feel the problem and the person who would pay. Friends and family are rarely useful because they are trying to be supportive.

What questions work best?

  • Tell me about the last time you dealt with this problem. What happened?
  • What did you try? What did it cost in time or money?
  • What do you use today, and what do you dislike about it?
  • Who else is involved when you decide to buy something for this?

What should you avoid?

  • Hypothetical questions like “Would you use a tool that…?” Almost everyone says yes.
  • Describing your solution early, which steers the rest of the conversation.
  • Leading questions that suggest the answer you want.

How do you turn interviews into decisions?

Write notes immediately after each call, using the person’s own words where possible. After every five or so interviews, review them together and list the problems that came up repeatedly, how painful they were and what people already spend to solve them.

Frequently asked questions

How many interviews are enough?

There is no fixed number. Keep going until you stop hearing new things about the problem, which for a focused customer type can happen within a couple of dozen conversations.

Should I record interviews?

Only with permission. Recording lets you focus on listening, but some people speak less openly when recorded.

Can I do discovery over email or surveys?

Surveys can help once you know what to ask, but live conversations are better early on because you can follow up on surprising answers.