Learn How to Grow From Your Customers
- Miguel Medrano
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
You need to understand why your customer picks you over a competitor to truly stand out amongst the crowd. The only way to get this level of insight is by understanding your customers’ buying motivators and behaviors.
While it is possible to create an effective sales and marketing strategy without conducting customer interviews, doing so leaves out “voice of the customer” perspective from your strategy formation.
Key Takeaways
Before getting into the details, here's what you need to know about conducting effective customer interviews:
Be strategic and purposeful - Have a clear understanding of why you're conducting customer interviews and what you will do with the insights you gather.
Get professional help - Consider using an experienced third party who can lead the customer interview process and interpret results objectively.
Cast a wide net - Always engage multiple buyer personas across all markets that matter to your business growth.
Leverage current insights for future growth - What you learn from existing customers will significantly improve how you position yourself to win new ones.
Respect everyone's time - Keep interviews focused and efficient. Thirty minutes is sufficient when you're well-prepared and strategic with your questioning.
Which Customers Should You Interview?
When conducting customer interviews, it is essential to engage customers that align with your ideal customer profile. These are the types of businesses you are interested in attracting to grow your company the most profitably.
Additionally, you’ll want to talk to contacts within these accounts that match what you have defined as your primary buyer personas.
Seldom does an ideal customer have only one decision-maker you need to win over.
That’s why your objective is to target a mix of buyer personas during the interview process. This will create the opportunity to glean from their differing perspectives.
If you haven’t gone through a formal process to define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and Buyer Personas, this needs to be your first step to make customer interviews worthwhile.
I advise clients to select a mix of their best current customers along with a few with untapped potential in all the markets they compete in.
How Do You Approach Customers for An Interview?
When it comes to approaching your customers to request their participation, the key is to invest ample time in developing a strong communication plan.
Crafting brief yet effective messaging that outlines why you initiated the customer interview process, and the action you plan on taking based on insights you gain, will generate participation buy-in.
Position the interviews as confidential to maximize transparent feedback.
When the interviewer presents their findings, it should be done in summary fashion with the focus on feedback themes, recognized strengths, improvement areas, and new opportunities, etc. Not based on who said what.
Scheduling should be easy and at your customer's convenience. To gain a strong acceptance rate, interview length should be “up to” 30-minutes.
I also advise clients to conduct the interview via video call if possible. This enables the interviewer to read body language as the customer shares their responses.
An experienced interviewer will be good at watching for signals when it’s worthwhile to probe deeper into certain areas. They will also uncover what’s underneath vague responses to reveal hidden gems.
Who Should Conduct the Customer Interviews?
Having the right person conduct customer interviews is essential for gathering accurate insights and getting the most out of the conversations. It is ideal to hire a third party resource that has C-suite experience to fulfill the interviewer role.
Third-party interviewers bring objectivity that internal teams simply cannot achieve. Customers are more likely to share honest feedback with someone outside your organization, especially when discussing areas for improvement or competitive comparisons.
Additionally, experienced external interviewers know how to probe deeper into responses, recognize buying signals, and uncover insights that inexperienced interviewers might miss.
What Should You Talk About During Customer Interviews?
During customer interviews always start by having the interviewer revisit the reason your company is investing itself in conducting interviews, what the next steps will be for utilizing the information gained and thanking them for participating. This is an opportunity to build upon your brand impression to the customer.
Before delving into a stream of questions, allow participants some time to tell their story such as what their core responsibilities or challenges are, or how their relationship with your company got started, etc.
This gives individuals the chance to share more detailed information than they would have had they been asked narrow-focused questions right away.
After this initial time of sharing, begin narrowing down conversation topics, focusing on areas such as:
· Pain points - What difficulties do they encounter when using your product?
· Personal needs - Why did they choose your product over competitors?
· Expectations - What do they expect from using a particular service?
· Feedback - How happy are they overall with their experience?
Be careful not to overstay your welcome. 30 minutes is plenty when the interviewer is prepared and paces the conversation properly. You’ll also want to probe into aspirational questions to glean from your customer’s future seeking objectives.
It's important that your questions are well thought out and designed to dig below the surface.
Ultimately, your objective is to learn what your customers need from their suppliers and partners to be successful in their role. They may not be conscious of what these things are, only that they have problems that need solving.
What Do You Do With The Answers Your Customers Give You?
Don’t conduct customer interviews unless you are committed to doing something tangible with the information. Leaving a favorable brand impression on your customers who participated will require you to take action.
The first step is analyzing the data carefully to draw meaningful insights that can be applied to future sales and marketing strategies.
This analysis should involve breaking down conversations into key themes and topics to dig deep into customer sentiment.
Translate the insights you uncover into actionable strategies. For example, if customers expressed their desire for suppliers to do a better job sharing market trend data, that should trigger an evaluation of your quarterly business review process with current customers.
By taking this approach, you will naturally evolve the ways you do business. The value impact you deliver to your customers will grow, which leads to greater success for your company.
Ready to Transform Your Customer Relationships?
Customer interviews aren't just about gathering feedback. They're about unlocking the strategic insights that will differentiate your business and accelerate your growth.
When done right, these conversations become the foundation for stronger customer relationships, more effective sales strategies, and sustainable competitive advantages.
The companies that consistently outperform their competition are those that truly understand what drives their customers' decisions. By implementing a structured customer interview process, you're not just listening to your customers, you're positioning your business to anticipate their needs and exceed their expectations.
If you’d like to discuss methods to improve your sales strategy through customer interviews or otherwise, please feel welcome to contact me at (713) 907-6310 or mprive@slictexas.com or book a call.
I am part of a national group of Senior Sales Leaders who collaborate to share insights like the examples shown in this article. We formed because of our shared passion to help business leaders exponentially expand their revenue.