The do’s and don'ts of Customer Development interviews that separate success from failure:
Dos:
🔹 Listen actively, summarize when necessary, and ask more in-depth questions if you hear something interesting.
🔹 Prepare the assumptions you want to test. It helps to ask the right questions but to let the conversation flow into another direction if the situation occurs.
🔹 Make sure you talk to enough people to validate your assumptions.
🔹 Watch the interviewees' body posture and listen to their tone of voice. This is where you can find a lot of hidden gems.
Don'ts:
🔹 Don't make the interview an inquisition - the interviewee should feel comfortable.
🔹 Don't ask future-related questions - no one can predict the future, not even your interviewee.
🔹 Don't sell anything - you are here to learn, not to pitch!
🔹 Don’t explain your assumptions - its easy to step into this pitfall, but it won’t help your gain the insights you need.
Interviewing customers is a very refined skill - let these do’s and don'ts help you gain the insights you need to create commercially successful ventures.
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Don't create unicorns,
Let's breed blue whales.
🐋
