Interviewing skills
Instead of… Try this…
Compassion & empathy
• Pleasant and welcoming attitude
• Real interest in the customer's story
• Patience
• Curiosity
Preparation
• Knowing what you want to learn
• Acknowledging the beliefs and
hypotheses you bring to the
interview
• Creating and internalizing a clear
interview guide
• Familiarity with the customer's
business and/or past product issues
• Letting the customer know what to
expect
Focus
• Staying connected to the
conversation
• Maintaining eye contact
• Listening closely and actively
• Probing for depth
• Following the customer's lead
• Covering the most important
questions you have
Openness
• Listen without interruption
• Acknowledge complaints and
frustrations without correcting
• Avoid selling
Being overly businesslike
Listening silently
Wanting "just the facts"
Worrying about timing
Wanting to move past
information you feel you already
know, or that seems irrelevant
Assuming you know what to ask
Planning to read from the
interview guide
Assuming a customer's past
problems are not relevant
Allowing your mind to drift,
especially with a talkative
respondent
Taking detailed notes
Simply moving from one question
to the next
Feeling you need to ask every
question
Correcting a customer's
misperception
Explaining how your product can
solve their problem
Promising to act on a complaint
© Vivian Harris & Todd Birzer
Be professional, friendly, warm
Show you are listening ("I see,"
"Tell me more")
Seek out stories and
emotions; try to understand how
the customer is feeling
Know the key questions in each
section in case you have run
short on time
Listen to the customer, even if it
feels repetitive; let the customer
speak
Take the time to write a clear
interview guide
Make it a more natural
conversation by reviewing the
guide several times so that you
are very familiar with the topics
and sequencing
Gather brief background details
on the customer so that you are
not surprised in the interview
Stay tuned in to what the
customer is saying ("I see," "Tell
me more")
Take limited notes so that you
can maintain eye contact
Probe for detail; link back to
earlier comments
Stay within your timeframe; if
necessary ask only the key
questions in each section
Try to understand where the
misperception comes from
Only describe your product;
don't sell it
Listen to complaints (at the end
of the interview, you can
acknowledge open issues and
promise follow-up)