When it comes to running a successful business, understanding the needs of your customers is paramount.

‍

A jobs-to-be-done approach helps us to focus on the real reason people buy products- to get a job done (make progress on a problem, struggle or goal).

‍

But how do we identify these jobs-to-be-done and the motivations behind them? Customer interviews are the key to unlocking these invaluable insights.

Today’s powerup will explore how to conduct effective customer interviews and discover exactly what your audience is looking for and what triggers them to act now.

‍

Step 1: Assembling the right participants

‍

First things first, you need to find the right people to talk to. To get a comprehensive understanding of your market, you can include four types of individuals.

1. People unfamiliar with your product or service - this helps identify the journey needed to communicate the value of your solution effectively
2. Users of competitor products - to uncover the factors driving people toward similar solutions.
3. Recent adopters of your product - to understand what led them to choose your product over alternatives they considered.
4. Former users of your product - to determine the reasons behind customer churn and what prevented them from using your product.

Pro tip: For B2B companies, consider the end users who will use your product most as well as the influencers and decision-makers involved in buying it.

‍

Step 2: Sample size and method

‍

Interviews should aim for at least 6 participants. Larger sample sizes are beneficial, but once patterns emerge and responses become consistent, you’ve reached something called ‘data saturation’, making the sample sufficient.

1-1 interviews work well as the participant can answer your questions directly without the influence of other participants. You can hold your interviews online using Zoom or another video call software.

But before you can run your interviews, you need people to agree to meet with you. Contact your customers using whatever method you feel works best, asking them to help you out with your quest to better understand their needs and experiences. We usually use email or in-app messaging. You can send the message and ask them to reply ‘sounds good’ if they are up for a quick (usually 30 min) chat. For those that reply, send over a calendly invite for them to book a call directly into your calendar that works for them.

If you’re having a rough time recruiting, offering some compensation for their time might sweeten the deal. We usually recommend something with the value of £20 for a 30 minute interview. This could be monetary, a voucher, or product incentive.

Step 3: Crafting effective interview questions

‍

To uncover the context driving customers to hire products like yours, structure your questions around jobs-to-be-done and the four customer forces influencing their choice of solution.

Here’s a few to get you started…

‍

Jobs-to-be-done questions

‍

1. What struggles or goals do you have related to [your category]?
2. Describe when you first realised you wanted a solution for this? some text
   1. Where did you look to find a solution?
3. What options did you consider at first? some text
   1. What worried you about some of the other options you considered?
4. What made you decide to go with the solution you chose? some text
   1. What do you see as the main difference between the solution you chose and the alternatives you considered?
5. What is the main thing [product] helps you with?
6. Are there any shortcomings of [product] or things you think could be improved?
7. What would life be like if [product] no longer existed?

Four forces questions

1. Walk me through how you first discovered [product]? some text
   1. Was anything happening around you/in your life that pushed you to seek out solutions like this?
2. What initially caught your attention about [product]?
3. Walk me through the decision process you went through before you first signed up? some text
   1. What made you decide to use/buy it at that moment?
   2. Did you have any hesitations or concerns?
4. What was the hardest part of switching to using this solution?

The importance of asking ‘why?”

Remember interviews are all about understanding the why behind customer behaviour. After receiving responses to any of the above questions, follow up with a simple yet powerful question ‘why is this important to you?’. Digging into the ‘why’ uncovers your audience’s underlying values and motivations, revealing the true reasons, attributes or outcomes that matter to them.

‍

Conclusion

Running customer interviews is key to understanding the reasons why your target audience would buy your product (or not).

By focusing on jobs-to-be-done and forces influencing their decision, you’ll gain valuable insights that lead you to create solutions and messages that resonate with what they are really looking for.

Engage your participants by using strong listening and probing skills and you will uncover vital information that competitors often miss.

Ultimately you will build a clear customer value model that will help your business thrive in a competitive market.

So go out there, ask the right questions and let your customers guide you towards success!

‍

Key takeaways

1. Cast a wide net by interviewing both current and potential users.
2. Getting people excited to talk is often the hardest part. Make sure to communicate how useful hearing their insights will be, and offer the right compensation to show appreciation.
3. Asking the right questions is key to getting the right insights. Focus your questions on what your audience wants to make progress with (their jobs-to-be-done) and the forces influencing their decisions between alternatives. Don’t forget the magic word ‘Why?’ to unlock hidden motivations!