Ask about the past
Recent behaviour is harder to politely invent than future intention. “What happened last time?” beats “Would you use this?”
Free interactive learning tool
The Customer Interview Simulator
Customers are polite. Bad questions let them compliment your idea while teaching you nothing. Run a short interview and score validated facts learned, not rapport.
You are exploring whether small business founders struggle to follow up with warm leads. Your goal is to learn about recent behaviour, not pitch a CRM feature.
AF
Ari, agency founder
Runs a 12-person web agency and handles sales follow-up between delivery calls.
Choose your next question
Avoid compliments
People will say an idea sounds useful. That is not evidence they have the pain, budget, or urgency to change.
Follow the facts
Strong interviews collect dates, tools, workarounds, costs, and failed attempts. Those facts shape better product bets.
The customer is not the judge of your pitch.
Discovery interviews are not mini sales calls. The job is to understand a real situation well enough that the next experiment has a sharper target.
When a question mentions your solution too early, the answer becomes contaminated. Stay with the customer’s world until the evidence is strong enough to earn solution talk.