Practical Skills to Get the Most from Customer Interviews for Entrepreneurs and Startups

Abstract

Customer discovery, which entrepreneurs use as part of the lean startup methodology, is a critical process for entrepreneurs to identify customers and their needs successfully. It also allows these individuals to learn and make more effective decisions. This effort requires entrepreneurs to develop practical and successful interviewing skills and to minimize any biases they may bring to the process. This paper builds on an initial publication that explores interviewing strategies. This piece focuses on critical tactical pieces involved with interviewing. First, it will cover customer selection and engagement. Second, it will review the interview process, including documentation and analysis considerations. Third, this discussion will focus on questions. Fourth, it raises awareness in interviewing and question biases, which can lead to misleading findings. Finally, the paper will provide examples of effective and ineffective types of questions. In the end, interviewing should focus on customers and their needs, and not about one’s company and its products. When used correctly, effective questioning and interviewing tactics will foster learning and lead to valuable insights that guide datadriven decision-making for entrepreneurs to reduce risks, to confirm their products and business models, and to aid scale-up of their ventures.