{"id":2971,"date":"2014-08-19T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T11:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prodpad.com?p=2971&preview_id=2971"},"modified":"2023-04-19T15:25:13","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T14:25:13","slug":"how-not-to-screw-up-customer-interviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prodpad.com\/blog\/how-not-to-screw-up-customer-interviews\/","title":{"rendered":"How Not To Screw Up Customer Interviews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Leading customer interviews is a fine art. You might spend hours brainstorming what you want to know and the questions you plan to ask, but it’s important to watch out for traps that can undo all that good work. If your interview isn’t reliable not only do you waste an opportunity, but you might skew the data.

Here are some tips on conducting a successful customer interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t go overboard on your interview squad<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Whenever you\u2019re going into a customer interview, you need to be sure you\u2019re well equipped to make the most of it. But you don\u2019t want to intimidate your customers. Two of you is plenty: one to talk, one to take notes. And for one-on-one interviews, consider recording it instead (if you ask nicely, of course).When you\u2019ve worked so hard on a prototype of a new product idea it\u2019s very exciting. And so it\u2019s very tempting to show it off straight away to your customers in interview. Iif you want to get to the heart of their real problems, attitudes and opinions, save it for the end. Start instead with an open conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be careful with prompts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It can be difficult to get some people to open up, so try asking simple yes\/no questions if open-ended questions don’t get you much of a response. Then follow up by asking “Why?” Prompts such as \u201ctell me about\u201d might also help you to trigger something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embrace silence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps an interviewer\u2019s biggest fear is complete silence. It\u2019s an even higher risk the more customers you have in the room at once. But as long as you\u2019re not the one phased by silence, all will be fine. It might not sound friendly, but let your customers feel the pain of silence until they crack. In fact you can wait an entire minute before you follow up with another prompt<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t make customer interviews personal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your products are your babies, but you want to avoid conveying this to your customers. If they feel like your pride is at stake based on their feedback, they likely won\u2019t be honest. Caveat your hypotheses with the opinions of \u2018others\u2019, \u201cpeople have suggested to me that\u2026. Do you agree.\u201d And be very careful to be light and breezy when asking for feedback. Remember that criticism is your best opportunity to learn, and you want to hear it.

For even more tips on what to do – and what not to do – during a customer interview, watch this great video from the LIFFFT Inc<\/a> guys.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

ProdPad can help you to tag, organize and link your customer feedback to your product roadmap. Sign up for a free trial here<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Access<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leading customer interviews is a fine art. You might spend hours brainstorming what you want to know and the questions you plan to ask, but it’s important to watch out…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3020,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[53,93,166,171,247,249,252,261],"pp_uni_tag":[],"class_list":["post-2971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-product-management-best-practice","tag-customer-feedback","tag-idea-management","tag-product-management-best-practices","tag-product-management-process","tag-user-engagement","tag-user-feedback","tag-user-personas","tag-voice-of-customer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nProdPad | How not to screw up customer interviews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Leading customer interviews is a fine art. 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