How to do customer interviews

You built the product, a few people signed up or bought, and you do not know why the rest did not. Here is how to do customer interviews when you have almost no customers: short calls about the last time your buyer had the problem, booked at a volume that gives you 20 conversations in about a week. Without them, you guess what to say on your website and in your messages, and most guesses are wrong.

Do these three things

About 4 hours a day. Expect about 3 interviews from every 100 messages, and judge who you are talking to after 20 interviews, about 700 messages.

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1. 1Today: write 7 customer interview questions about the last time your buyer had the problem, and invite everyone who already signed up or bought to a 20-minute call.
2. 2Every day: send 100 personal messages asking for a 20-minute interview, hold every call you book, and write down the person's exact words within 10 minutes.
3. 3Every Sunday: count how many people had the problem in the last 30 days, and put the words 3 or more of them used into your homepage headline and the first line of your messages.

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ChatGPT or Claude reads this guide and works through it with you.

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1. Write down who to interview and the three things you need to learn

Write one sentence that says who you will interview, and three things you need to learn from them. Then list 100 people who fit, starting with anyone who has already used, bought or cancelled.

The sentence is the short form of your ideal customer profile. If you have one already, use it. The three things to learn are the same for almost every business:

1. How often the problem happens to them, and when it last did.
2. What it costs them in time, money or stress.
3. What they use or pay for now, including doing nothing.

Then fill a Google Sheet with 100 names, in this order:

• People who already signed up, bought or paid you. They are the easiest yes and teach you the most. Anyone who cancelled or signed up and never came back goes near the top.
• People you know who fit the sentence: past colleagues, old clients, friends at companies like your buyer. This is warm outreach.
• Strangers who fit, found on LinkedIn, Google and in online communities where your buyers talk. People who posted about the problem in the last few months are the best of these. Build the rest with a free lead list.

Give ChatGPT or Claude your sentence and ask it for kinds of companies or people who fit, and where they gather online. Check each name yourself before it goes in the sheet.

• Tool: Google Sheets, and ChatGPT or Claude. Free to start.
• Time: 1 hour 30 minutes.
• You will have: the sentence, the three things to learn, and a sheet of 100 names with a way to reach each one.
• It worked if: all 100 rows have a real name, and at least 20 of them have already used your product, bought from you or know you.
• Common mistake: interviewing friends and family who do not have the problem. They are kind, and kind answers teach you nothing. If you cannot find 20 people who have the problem, check the problem is real before you go further.

2. Write your customer interview questions about the last time the problem happened

Write 7 questions that ask about something that already happened, never about the future or your product. People are polite about ideas, but they remember what they did last Tuesday.

The first five come from Eric Migicovsky's Y Combinator talk "How to Talk to Users". The last two find the words and places you will use in your marketing. Copy them and put your buyer's task in the brackets:

Opening: "Thanks for your time. I'm not selling anything today. I'm trying to understand how people like you deal with [the problem]. Is it OK if I record this so I can take notes? It's only for me."
What's the hardest part about [doing this task]?
Tell me about the last time that happened. When was it, and what did you do?
Why was that hard?
What, if anything, have you done to try to solve it? What do you use or pay for now?
What don't you love about the things you've tried?
When you looked for a fix, where did you look, and what did you type into Google or ask ChatGPT?
What did the last time cost you, in time or money?
Closing: "This really helped. [Next step: "Can I set up a trial for you now?" / "Can I send you a sample?" / "Could we look at your last order together next week?"] And who else should I talk to about this?"

After each answer, ask "Why?" or "What happened next?" once or twice before you move on. These follow-ups find the real cost.

• Tool: a Google Doc.
• Time: 30 minutes.
• You will have: one page with the opening, 7 questions and the closing.
• It worked if: none of the 7 questions names your product, and none starts with "Would you" or "Do you think".
• Common mistake: asking "Would you use this?" or "How much would you pay?". People say yes to be nice, then never buy. Ask what they paid last time instead. That is also the question the pricing guides use in every chat.

3. Send 100 messages a day to get customer interviews

Send 100 personal messages every day, each asking for a 20-minute call about the problem, with a link to pick a time. Expect about 3 interviews from every 100 messages, so 100 a day gives you about 20 interviews in the first week.

First, make a booking page so nobody has to email back and forth. In Google Calendar, click "Create", then "Appointment schedule", set 20-minute slots with 10 minutes free after each, click "Next", then "Save". A basic booking page is free with a Google account.

Then work down your list: first users and buyers first, then people you know, then strangers. 100 a day empties a list fast, so add 100 new names every day. Search LinkedIn or Google for people who fit your sentence, and find their work email.

Let AI do the drafting. Paste 10 names at a time into ChatGPT or Claude, each with one thing you know about the person, plus the template below. Ask for one message per person. Read each draft, make the first line true and about them, and send it. That is about a minute a message.

Subject: [the problem, in 3–5 words]Hi [first name],[One true line about them: they signed up, bought, posted about the problem, or you worked together.]I'm trying to learn how [kind of buyer] deal with [the problem] today. Could I ask you 7 questions on a 20-minute call? I won't try to sell you anything.Pick any time that suits you: [booking link][Your name]
[Your company, postal address]
Not for you? Reply "no" and I won't write again.

Stay inside each platform's rules, and spread the 100 across them instead of sending fewer:

• LinkedIn restricts your invitations for about a week if you hit its limit, and it does not say what the limit is. Message people you are already connected to, and send the rest by email.
• Email. Since February 2024, Gmail requires every sender to have SPF or DKIM, two settings that prove the email comes from you, and a spam complaint rate below 0.3%. If you email more than about 50 strangers a day, set up a second domain and warm it up so your main email stays safe.
• The law. In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act covers business email too: add your postal address and a way to say no, and honour a "no" within 10 business days.
• Communities. Some let you post one "looking to talk to [kind of buyer]" request. Read each place's rules on self-promotion first, and never paste the same post in many places. This matters most on Reddit and in Facebook groups.

Follow up with everyone who has not replied, twice more, 3 days apart, with one new line each time. Stop the moment someone says no.

If you run a D2C store: email every past buyer who is not a friend, and people who reviewed or posted about products like yours. Offer a $25 gift card or a free product for 20 minutes. In 2025, research panels most often paid shoppers $80 an hour for calls like this.

If you run a B2B company or an agency: do not offer cash. You cannot match what research panels pay managers, and it attracts the wrong people. Offer to send a one-page summary of how 20 of their peers handle the same problem. Some of these calls turn into your first clients.

• Tool: Gmail or LinkedIn, Google Calendar's appointment schedule, ChatGPT or Claude to draft, and your Google Sheet to log every message.
• Time: about 1 hour 45 minutes a day for 100 messages, plus 45 minutes to find 100 new names. With the calls and notes, the whole routine is about 4 hours a day, so plan your week around it.
• You will have: 700 messages sent and logged in the first week, and about 20 interviews booked.
• It worked if: at least 3 interviews are booked from every 100 messages. Below 2, rewrite the first line so it is more about them, then send the next 100.
• Common mistake: asking for "feedback on my product" or offering a demo. That reads as a sales pitch, and people ignore it. Ask about their problem. The other mistake is stopping at 50 messages because nobody replied yet.

4. Run each customer interview in 20 minutes without pitching

Hold every call you book, ask your 7 questions in order, and let them talk for at least 15 of the 20 minutes. Say nothing about your product until the last 5 minutes, and only if they ask.

Start. Read your opening line. Ask if you may record, and record only if they say yes. Some US states, such as California and Florida, need everyone on the call to agree, so ask every time. Say what the recording is for, and delete it once your notes are done.

Middle. Ask the questions in order. When they finish an answer, wait three seconds before you speak. People often add the most useful part to fill the silence. Ask "Why?" and "What happened next?" and write down numbers: how long, how often, how much. If they start to describe a feature they want, ask "When did you last need that? What did you do instead?"

End. Ask for one real next step, then for names. A next step is something that costs them a little time or money, which is how you tell real interest from politeness. Thank them, and send the promised summary or gift the same day.

If you run a SaaS: the next step is "Can I set up your trial with you now?". People who start on a call with you are more likely to become paying customers. If they ask to see it first, give a short demo in the last 5 minutes.

If you run a B2B company: add two questions: "Who else would decide on this?" and "What did you pay last time, and for how much?". If they want to buy, the call has become a discovery call. Book a second call for that.

If you run an agency: ask about the last time they hired outside help for marketing: who, what it cost, and what went wrong. Their answer tells you which clients to pick and what to promise, which matters most when you have no case studies yet.

• Tool: Google Meet or a phone call. A free Google account allows one-to-one Meet calls of up to 24 hours. For a transcript, Otter's free plan covers up to 30 minutes per call and 300 minutes a month, about 15 calls. At 3 calls a day you will need Otter Pro ($16.99 a month) or to take notes by hand.
• Time: 20 minutes a call, about 1 hour a day at 3 calls.
• You will have: about 3 interviews a day, each with one story about the last time the problem happened.
• It worked if: they talked for at least 15 of the 20 minutes, and you have one dated story with a cost in it, such as "Last Thursday, 2 hours".
• Common mistake: pitching or defending your product when they criticise the way things are done today. Once you pitch, they stop telling you the truth and start being polite.

5. Write up each interview within 10 minutes, in their exact words

Within 10 minutes of each call, fill in one row of your notes sheet. Write what they said in their own words, not your summary of it.

Date | Name and role | Where you found them | Last time it happened | What it cost | What they tried or pay for now | Their words (3 quotes, word for word) | Where they looked for a fix and what they typed | Next step agreed | Had the problem in the last 30 days? (Y/N)

If you recorded the call, paste the transcript into ChatGPT or Claude and ask it to pull out the three strongest quotes about the problem, word for word, and every number mentioned. Check each quote against the transcript before it goes in the sheet. AI summaries often tidy up the very words you need.

This sheet is also where your CRM starts. Keep one row per person, so you can follow up on each next step. A row with a big cost and a happy ending later becomes a case study.

• Tool: Google Sheets, and ChatGPT or Claude for transcripts.
• Time: 10 minutes an interview, about 30 minutes a day.
• You will have: one row per interview, about 20 rows after the first week.
• It worked if: every row has 3 quotes word for word, a Y or N in the last column, and a next step or the word "none".
• Common mistake: writing "found reporting painful" instead of what they said: "I spend Friday afternoons guessing what 'the button is broken' means." The second one can go on your homepage. The first one cannot.

6. Every Sunday, count what you heard and put their words into your marketing

Every Sunday, count three things in your notes sheet, then copy the words 3 or more people used into your headline, your messages and your pages. This is how customer interviews turn into marketing.

Count:

1. How many people had the problem in the last 30 days (the Y column).
2. How many agreed to a next step.
3. Which words or phrases 3 or more people used. Highlight them in the sheet.

Decide, after your first 20 interviews (about 700 messages):

• Fewer than 10 of 20 had the problem in the last 30 days: you are calling the wrong people, which is a common reason no one is buying. Rewrite your sentence from step 1 around the people who said Y, and message more like them.
• 10 or more had it, but 0 agreed to a next step: the problem is real but not urgent enough to act on. Ask more about cost (question 7) and look for the people who lose the most.
• 10 or more had it and 3 or more agreed to a next step: keep going at 100 messages a day, and put their words to work.

Use their words:

• Your headline. Turn the phrase most people used into your value proposition and your homepage headline. If you sell products, use it in your product descriptions.
• Your first message line. Open next week's 700 messages with the problem in their words. Count interviews booked per 100 before and after.
• Your pages. What people typed into Google (column 8) is a list of keywords. Write one page for each, and use the questions they asked as its headings.
• Your competitor list. What they tried or pay for now (column 6) is your real competition, including spreadsheets and doing nothing. What they pay is also your first guide to price.
• AI answers. What they asked ChatGPT shows which questions you want to be named in.
• Your proof. When someone who became a customer says something strong, ask if you may quote them. That is your first testimonial.

Later, when you are ready for ads, the same words go into them. Keep interviewing after the first 20. New people, new kinds of buyer and new prices all change the answers. Once a month, carry the counts into your monthly marketing review.

• Tool: Google Sheets, and your site editor.
• Time: 45 minutes each Sunday.
• You will have: three counts, a decision, and a new headline and first message line in your buyers' words.
• It worked if: after 20 interviews, at least 10 people had the problem in the last 30 days and at least 3 agreed to a next step. After you switch to their words, interviews booked per 100 messages stay the same or go up.
• Common mistake: changing the product or the message after one loud interview. Wait until 3 or more people say the same thing.

Where Scout7 helps

Scout7 helps with the words in steps 2 and 6. It does not run interviews. The calls are still yours.

Step 2. Scout7's audience research reads public social conversations in your category and builds audience segments with pain points and quotes in buyers' own words. Read them before you write your questions, so you know which phrases to listen for.

Step 6. Put the phrases 3 or more of your interviews used next to Scout7's quotes from public conversations. A phrase that shows up in both places is the safest one to put in your headline.

Your customer interview checklist for the first 20 interviews

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Work through this list with an AI assistant

It drafts the work and keeps track of what is done.

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Step 1 · Write down who to interview and what to learn

• Write one sentence on who you will interview and the three things you need to learn.
• List 100 people who fit, starting with anyone who signed up, bought or cancelled.

Step 2 · Write your customer interview questions

• Write your opening line, 7 questions about the last time the problem happened, and your closing ask.

Step 3 · Send 100 messages a day to get customer interviews

• Set up a free booking page with 20-minute slots in Google Calendar.
• Every daySend 100 personal messages asking for a 20-minute interview, and log them.
• Every dayAdd 100 new names to your list.
• Every dayFollow up with everyone who has not replied, up to twice, 3 days apart.

Step 4 · Run each customer interview in 20 minutes

• Every dayHold every interview you booked: ask to record, ask the 7 questions, and ask for a next step and 2 names.

Step 5 · Write up each interview within 10 minutes

• Every dayFill in one row of the notes sheet for each interview, in their exact words.

Step 6 · Count what you heard and use their words

• Every SundayCount who had the problem in the last 30 days, who agreed to a next step, and which words 3 or more people used.
• Every SundayPut the most-used phrase into your headline and the first line of your messages.
• After 20 interviewsDecide whether to change who you interview, using the rules in step 6.

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