Nov-14 2014: Added entry to classify customer into early adopter or not using @Justin_Wilcox definition: someone who is actively trying to solve the problem
Talking to your customers is the starting point to understand their needs. It’s easy to do, but difficult to do well.
On each interview I try want to understand:
- pain level of the problem to the eye of the customer. Is this a problem worth solving for them?
- the frequency of the problem. How often does it happen?
- discover alternative solution the customer have used. How are they solving it today?
- understand how they have been looking for those solutions. This provide insights on their journey and is valuable to understand you marketing channels
- discover other potential problems related. This allow you to identify other opportunities
I don’t like using a script for interview, it breaks the natural flow of the conversation. But I found having a template to take note helps structure the feedback directly and make sure I am not missing any of the above.
Download the Problem Interview template
If you are doing problem interview with your potential customer, please try it and let me know what you think.