Questions to ask customers work best when they're about the customer's life and the last time something happened, not about whether they like your idea: the principle behind Rob Fitzpatrick's book The Mom Test. Every question below carries the follow-up Spoke asks when the first answer is a polite “yeah, I'd use that.”
Most owners still count stock in a spreadsheet on Sunday night; the ones who'd pay to stop are the ones who lost a sale to a stock-out last month.
An example of the line the Agent Results Brief leads with.An opinion question asks what someone thinks of your idea. A behavior question asks what they did the last time the problem came up. People are kind about ideas and accurate about last Tuesday. That's the idea behind Rob Fitzpatrick's The Mom Test, and it's the difference between every question on this page and the ones on most lists. More on wording that doesn't lead in biased and leading questions.
Under every question is the follow-up Spoke asks when the first answer is vague. That second question is where the real answer usually is.
What happened the last time you had to [do the job]?
What did you do first?
What usually sets it off?
What happened the most recent time it was set off?
What have you cobbled together to deal with it so far?
How long did that take to set up?
What does it cost you when it goes wrong?
What did the last one cost you, in time or in money?
What have you paid for, or nearly paid for, to make this go away?
What stopped you at the point of paying?
Who else is involved when this comes up?
What does that person do while you're dealing with it?
What's the worst part of it?
When did that part last bite you?
What would you have to stop doing if this problem went away?
What would you do with that time instead?
What job do you hire us for, in your own words?
When did you last do that job with us, start to finish?
What's the last thing you did with us that you'd have hated to do by hand?
How long would it have taken by hand?
When did you last consider switching away?
What was going on that week?
What do you tell new colleagues about how to get the most out of us?
What's the last thing you had to explain to one of them?
What are you usually in the middle of when you open us?
What are you hoping is true once we're open?
What would have to happen for us to be the thing you open first each day?
What opens first today?
What, if anything, has become more annoying about us over time?
When did you first notice it?
What do you work around rather than fix?
What does the workaround look like on a bad day?
What, if anything, is keeping you with us right now?
When did that last matter to you?
What have you started looking at instead, even casually?
What did it do that caught your eye?
What did you expect from us this year that hasn't happened?
What did you do when it didn't arrive?
What does this problem cost you over a year, in your own accounting?
Which part of that cost hurts most?
What's the last thing you paid for to save yourself time?
What made that one worth it?
How did you make the case for the last tool you bought?
Who had to say yes?
What would make you feel you'd overpaid for us?
When has something else felt that way?
What almost won instead of us?
What made the difference in the end?
Who was the last person you told about us?
What were they struggling with at the time?
What did you say when you told them?
What did they ask you back?
Who would you never recommend us to?
What would go wrong for them?
What would make recommending us easier?
What stopped you the last time you thought about it?
Every person gets interviewed, not surveyed. Spoke asks, listens, and follows up on what that person actually said. Here's an example.
Read the answer, not the transcripts: themes ranked by how many people raised them, the quotes behind each, and the places where two groups disagree.
What people do today: most owners count stock in a spreadsheet on Sunday night and reorder from suppliers by phone or email. What it costs them: 18 lost a sale to a stock-out in the last month, and most of those found out from the customer. Owners with one shop mostly say the spreadsheet is fine; owners with two or more say the counts drift between shops and that's where the sales get lost. Nobody has paid for a fix, but 9 have tried a free app and dropped it after one week.
An example Agent Results Brief. The counts, themes and quotes are illustrative, not from a real survey.
“I'd use that” is the kindest thing a person can say and the least useful. Spoke asks about the last time, and the answer tells you whether they would. Sometimes it confirms the need; that's the point of asking.
There's no purchase behind the “pain.” This person solves it with a neighbor and has never paid; the idea would need a different customer.
A real workaround with a real cost (an assistant's Friday) and a buyer who can sign the same week. This one is worth building for.
The numbers get made once and never read. The need is the one question the accountant asks, not the report.
Three habits, in our words, from the way good customer interviews are run. They matter whether you're asking in person or sending the questions with Spoke.
The idea can wait until the end, or never come up. If you describe it first, every answer after is about being nice to you.
What they'd do is a guess. What they did is a fact, with a cost attached.
A problem nobody has spent time or money on is a problem people live with. Ask what they've tried, what they've paid, and who had to say yes.
Each group above fits one moment. Here is who to send it to and what you're trying to learn. For satisfaction after a purchase or a project, use the customer feedback questions; for the score and its reason, NPS follow-up; for people who already left, the customer exit survey; to find out whether you've found fit, the product-market fit survey.
| Stage | Send it to | What you want to learn | Ask first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before you build | People who have the problem, whether or not they know you | What they do today and what it costs | “What happened the last time you had to [do the job]?” |
| Current customers | People who've paid for a while | The job they hire you for, in their words | “What job do you hire us for, in your own words?” |
| Churn risk | Customers whose use has dropped | The workaround they've built instead of complaining | “What do you work around rather than fix?” |
| Pricing and value | Buyers, before you set or change a price | What the problem costs and who signs | “What does this problem cost you over a year?” |
| Referrals | Long-standing customers | Who they'd send and what they'd say | “Who was the last person you told about us?” |
What do you want to learn, and who's answering?
Drafted the spec. I'll ask about the last time it happened and what it cost, and keep the idea itself out of it until the end. Should I mention the idea at all?
Questions about what they did, not what they think: “What happened the last time you had to do this?”, “What have you cobbled together to deal with it so far?”, “What did the last one cost you?”, “What have you paid for to make it go away?” and “Who else is involved when it comes up?” Then follow up on the vague answer with the last specific time.
A book by Rob Fitzpatrick about talking to customers. The idea, in our words: ask about their life and the specific past, not your idea and the hypothetical future, so that even someone who loves you (your mom) can't give you a falsely encouraging answer. The questions on this page follow that principle.
Don't describe your idea first. Ask what happened the last time the problem came up, what they did, and what it cost. Avoid “would you” and “do you think”; ask “what happened” and “what did you do.” More in the guide to biased and leading questions.
Until the answers stop surprising you. Early on, a handful of conversations change your mind every time; when three in a row tell you the same workaround and the same cost, you've found the pattern. Sending the questions with Spoke lets you keep going past the handful without scheduling calls.
The “before you build” set above: the last time it happened, what they did, what they've cobbled together, what it cost, what they've paid or nearly paid, and who else is involved. Keep your idea out of it until the end.
Questions that can't be answered yes or no and don't suggest an answer, such as “What happened the last time you had to do this?” Every question on this page is one; the open-ended survey questions guide covers how to write them.
Free to start. No card. Your first ten agent surveys are on us.
