Talking to Customers

A short bootcamp on customer conversations: how to ask questions people cannot lie to you about, and what to do with the answers. Adapted from Rob Fitzpatrick's The Mom Test.

3 topics
7 lessons
41 min
Start the course
Topic 1

Core principles

  1. Why customer conversations go wrong

    Kindness is not evidence: their life not your idea, the past not the future, less talking

    6 min
  2. Compliments are not data

    The one question to ask of any warm response: could someone without the problem have said it?

    5 min
  3. Turning fluff into fact

    Hear a generality, ask for the last instance — "oh, all the time" becomes "two weekends ago"

    5 min
Topic 2

Good and bad questions

  1. The questions to stop asking

    Opinions, hypothetical purchases and made-up prices — questions you can repair by pointing them at the past

    7 min
  2. The questions that earn their place

    Why "what else have you tried?" finds the real competitor, and "why do you bother?" the motive

    8 min
Topic 3

Running the conversation

  1. Keep it casual

    No deck, no demo, no agenda; if you are explaining, you have started selling

    4 min
  2. Commitment and advancement

    "Keep me posted" is a polite exit; a commitment costs time, reputation or money

    6 min