How to nail the customer

research call
One of the worst kept secrets about IWT is that we love customer research. Our best product
insights come from talking to REAL people. It’s a superpower that has made the difference
between so-so products that make a few thousand dollars and hit products that let me and the
entire IWT team live a Rich Life.

Sometimes these conversations happen over the phone. Sometimes they happen over email or
DM. And a lot of times they just happen in normal everyday conversation. For example, if I’m
sitting next to someone at a party and the topic comes up, I LOVE digging in to find out how they
really feel about it.

W H E T H E R YOU ’RE ON THE PHONE OR IN PERSO N, H ERE’S A SIM PLE 6-STEP STRUCT URE
FOR NA I L I N G YOU R C U STOMER RESEARCH CO NV ERSATIO NS.

Step 1: Build rapport

I always start the first couple of minutes of any interaction with some small talk. Don’t just jump
right into the serious stuff. Let them get comfortable talking with you first.

For example, I might say:

“Hey NAME, thank you so much for speaking with me today. So how has your week been going?...
Cool...I know what you mean blah blah blah…”

Notice that this is NOT like those customer research calls you get from marketing agencies
where they say, “Hello, I’m Ramit from Synergy Research and I’d like to ask you a few questions today
about your experience with blah blah blah….” No. We want this to sound like two real human beings
having a regular conversation.

Once you’ve had a bit of small talk, you can transition to the topic of the conversation with
something like this:

“So, I’m just doing a little research on the topic of [TOPIC]. Don’t worry, I’m not going to try and
sell you anything. I’m just going to ask you some questions and it will be a casual conversation,
sound good?”
Step 2: Get them talking
Once you’ve built some rapport and set the context, it’s time to ask your first question.
My approach here is simple. Start with a broad, open-ended question to get them talking, and
then shut up and listen. For example, if I’m researching fitness, I might say something like this:

“So, I’m curious. How do you think about fitness?”

Here’s why a broad, open-ended question like this works. First, it gets them talking. Second,
it prevents you from asking biased questions that lead them in the direction you want to go.
For example, if I asked a leading question like,

“Have you ever wanted a workout program that got you in great shape that you could do at the
office in work clothes?”

The person might say, “Yeah, that would be cool,” but they would have never gotten there on
their own. This can get you in trouble because you may go down the path of creating a business
around a topic that nobody actually cares about – like working out in business clothes!

So, always start broad and open-ended. You might get a short, one-word answer, so it’s important
to have a few other questions ready in your back pocket. For example, sticking with the fitness
theme, my backup questions could be:
• “What kind of fitness are you doing these days?”
• “What gym do you work out at?”
• “Have you found any good fitness classes in the area?”

Step 3: Dig deeper

Once I have them talking, I’m in listening mode. I’m on the hunt for anything they say that gets
them emotional or excited. For example, these are some common words and phrases to listen for:
• “I hate when…”
• “I love this…”
• “It’s crazy…”
• “I wish…”
Comments that might sound “obvious” could also contain GOLD. To the untrained ear, “ah using
the bench press is so awkward lol” sounds like a throwaway comment. Most people would smile,
nod, and move on to the next question.
But when I hear that, I DIG IN:
• Why?
• What’s awkward about it?
• Tell me about a time you felt awkward.
• What goes through your head in that moment?
I’m listening for the TRUTH. The real things they’d say to themselves – but not out loud to
anyone else. That’s how you get to know your customers better than they know themselves.

This is so important. Humans are complex creatures who often obscure truths and don’t say
what we actually mean. The first answer is almost never the real answer, so you have to dig
to get to the truth.

How? Just use any of these prompts to signal that you want to hear more:
• Why?
• Tell me more…
• Go on…
• That’s interesting that you said X. Can you tell me more about that?
• How do you feel about that?
It’s not unusual for me to spend 50% of a conversation just alternating between these phrases!

Step 4: How serious are they?

Once I feel like I have a sense of what the problem is, their burning pains, and some key phrases
they might use when describing them, I transition to another topic: how serious are they?

A lot of people complain about problems. But how big of a problem is this? Is it something they
are willing to spend time and money to solve? If not, this may not be the right business idea for
me to pursue!

To test this, here is a simple question you can ask:

“That’s interesting. So, what have you tried to solve this?”
If they’ve paid money – for example bought a book, tried a program, or even hired a coach –
they’re serious. If not, it’s not a priority. Either they aren’t your target customer, or if you hear
this enough, it’s not enough of a burning pain – and you should consider another topic.

If you discover that they haven’t done much about this problem, politely thank them for the
time and wrap up the conversation. But if you find someone who is actively trying to solve the
problem, move onto the next step…
Step 5: Dig into potential solutions
You’ve already asked what they’ve tried to solve it, so now you can dig into specific solutions.

Here are some prompts you can try:

• What worked?
• What hasn’t worked?
• What about X potential solution...why haven’t you tried that yet?
• What’s so hard about it? Which parts? Why?
• When do you get the most stuck?
These questions can reveal very interesting insights that guide the design of your product or
service. For example, in our fitness program, we learned that someone got great results going to
the gym but – they still quit! Turns out, they quit because it wasn’t FUN.

It’s important that you only ask them about what they’ve done in the past. Many people make
the mistake of asking something like “if I created XYZ product or service, would you buy it?” No
matter how good or bad your idea, people will always say yes. Why? First, they don’t want to hurt
your feelings and tell you your idea sucks. Second, people are just generally bad at predicting
what we might want in the future. That’s why I recommend you keep your questions focused on
solutions they’ve tried in the past, and what they liked and didn’t like about them.

Step 6: Wrap up
Once you’ve gotten through all of your questions (or run out of time), you can end the conversation
with a quick wrap-up. Just keep it simple – thank them for their time and ask if you can follow up
later if you have any more questions. In our experience, people always say yes to this!

Congratulations, you just completed your first customer conversation!

WANT MORE HELP WITH YOUR CONVERSATIONAL SKILLS?

Social skills are an important asset for customer research calls. Did you know we have
a course called How to Talk to Anybody? It shows you exactly how to improve your
conversation skills with anybody, including mastering the art of small talk, getting over
being shy, how to tell a great story, and more.

Learn more here