Amigos, amigas, how are you doing?! 🍹
We’re on fire! We have so much cool stuff for you today that questioning your potential customers will be easier than enjoying a fresh Caipirinha at the beach. Today is a pure tuto.
🎯 Today's objective: Prepare your interview script
This Tip follows and complements Tip #5, which includes 2 videos explaining general best practices to interview potential customers.
Now, let’s cut the small talk and jump directly to the topic. There are 4 parts in a good interview: 1/ introduction, 2/ problem questions, 3/ solution questions, 4/ commitment questions.
Part 1️⃣ - The introduction
Before starting the interview, please explain why you're doing these interviews and what you would like to talk about. The main objective is to make the interviewee comfortable and engaged.
💡 Keep it short, keep it broad, keep it neutral.
You don't want to bias your interviewee from the beginning.
📙 Examples
"Hi, my name is Nico. We're working on a project called mangoUP and we have a few questions regarding your entrepreneurial interests. Understanding your current needs will help us come up with a service that is valuable to you. If it’s OK with you, we can start directly."
Let's say that I want to create an online streaming site (like Netflix) for sports. Which one of these two sentences is the good one, which one is the bad one?
"We have questions regarding your habits in watching sports online and in replay”
"We would like to find out more about the sport you follow every day”
(Answer: the second one is way better. You got it.
Part 2️⃣ - Problem-related questions
Limit yourself to a few questions only. Focus on the essential. Go with the flow during the interview.
🔑 Use and adapt the following questions
How are you dealing with "job X" right now?
Do you find it hard to do job X?
Take me through the last time you had this problem. What happened?
What was the hardest part? And why?
Why haven’t you been able to fix this already?
What do you like/dislike about the current solution? What do you wish you could do, that is currently not possible?
In between, react to the answers, ask WHY, as often as possible. You are here to discover. If a topic is getting hot, deep dive in it, don't just come back to your script. Improvisation plays a big role here.
Part 3️⃣: Solution-related questions
Finally! This is the moment you present your solution, SIMPLY, in 1-2 sentences MAXIMUM. (See Tip #3)
Accept returns as they are. Do not argue in return for your interviewee's answers. Ask for details, explanations. You are here to listen, not talk, always remember this.
🔑 Use and adapt the following questions
Why would [your solution] help you address the pain/need?
How would you use [the solution]? If he/she wouldn't use it, ask why.
Is there any additional feature you think you are missing?
If this product was available today and free, would you implement/use it immediately? If not, why?
If the product would cost [100 times the planned price] per year, would you be willing to implement it/use it immediately?
Part 4️⃣ - Commitment questions
The best way to close an interview is to receive a commitment from the interviewee. If he/she accepts, it's already proof that your idea raises interest.
🔑 Several commitments you can ask for
Purchase. The ultimate commitment.
Next meeting and next steps. It forces the person to show that they want to move forward with you.
Introduction to another person. It challenges his/her reputation and therefore “faith” in your solution.
Participate in your Beta Test. Accept to be among the first users and above all commit to spending time to actively test the solution.
📙 Our example: Interviews for mangoUP
We did over 60 interviews with first-time founders, people working on business ideas, people interested in starting their companies, in short: young and nascent entrepreneurs. Each interview lasted 1 hour on average. It made our initial idea evolve quite a lot, and you’ll see that we’ve evolved even more since then!
Problem:
Did/do you find the process of working on your business idea painful?
Take me through the last time you had a business idea, what happened? / Take me through the beginning of your company, from the moment you had the idea.
What was the hardest part of this process? Why?
What did you miss the most? What is the main thing you wish you had had?
How did you manage to overcome these difficulties?
Looking back, would you have done something differently?
Solution: mangoUP is the first online platform for first-time entrepreneurs. We help them start their business by connecting them with a community of entrepreneurs, we give them advice about how to build their ideas and the best tools they can use.
Why would mangoUP help you address the pain/need?
How would you use mangoUP? What for?
Is there a feature you would really like to have?
Commitment:
Do you have a friend you could recommend me for the same interview?
Would you like to test the Beta version of our platform when it's ready?
🚨 3 final Tips
❌ A very bad idea: the survey
At this stage, the biggest mistake you can make is to create a survey, send it to 500 people to obtain 50 answers without details, constrained by the choices of your poll, which will consolidate you in your idea...
Polls are good to get quantitative data and test specific hypotheses. For now, you need to focus on the pains and problems, and this, my friend, will require you to talk to people.
🧠 Adopt the good mindset
Listen to the people you talk to. Be interested in them, in what they think, in what they tell you. Ask them questions, try to understand what's behind their reactions and thoughts. Be open-minded and unbiased. The focus is on them, not you.
🎯 Know what you are looking for
Reactions, understanding, brainstorming, new thoughts. You are on the way to identify who could be the most interested in your solution, and why (= what problem does your solution solve).
Thanks for reading! That's it for today 👋
🏄 Was it useful? Help us improve!
With your feedback, we can improve the Tipsletter. Click on a link to vote:
📤 Help other entrepreneurs, Share this newsletter
💸 Save $20,000 on Startup Tools
See you soon guys 🤙
Nico, Marie, Raquel