Lesson 3 of 5
Five customer conversations that beat a survey
Five short calls, and questions that get honest answers
The idea
A survey can tell you that 60% of people want “better service”. It can't tell you that one customer nearly left because nobody answered the phone on a Saturday. Only a conversation finds things you didn't think to ask.
A survey
- Answers only the questions you thought of
- Good for counting
- Tells you how many
Five conversations
- Finds the questions you missed
- Gives you the customer's own words
- Tells you why
Who to call
Five recent customers
From the last 90 days, while they still remember the details
One who nearly bought
Whatever stopped them stops others too
Ask about what happened
Ask “Would you pay £20 for this?” and people say yes to be nice, then don't. We're all bad at predicting what we'll do, and good at remembering what we did. So ask about the last time.
Step 1
Before
What was going on when you first thought you needed this?
Step 2
Looking
What did you try before? What did you compare us with?
Step 3
Deciding
What almost stopped you? What made you decide?
Step 4
After
How would you describe what we do to a friend?
Sort it
1 of 6
Good question or bad question?
“Would you pay $20 a month for this?”
What to listen for
Their exact words
They become your headlines
Numbers
Like “it took three evenings”
Feelings
Relief, worry, embarrassment
Don't sell and don't argue. If something surprises you, ask “why that day?” Write one page after each call.
Today, with AI
Recording and writing up a call is instant now, and AI can mark every answer as a trigger, a worry or a reason to buy.
The part AI can't do is the follow-up question you didn't plan. That one only comes from a person listening.
What AI does well
Writing the question list, turning recordings into text, and spotting phrases that come up in several calls.
Where it goes wrong
It tidies customers' words into nicer ones. Keep their exact quotes.
What stays yours
Making the calls, asking “why?”, and deciding what the five agree on.
Check yourself
Do it in the studio
Checklist
0 of 5
Before the calls
- 01
Choose five customers from the last 90 days and one who nearly bought. Ask each for 20 minutes, and offer a thank-you.
free - 02
Run the calls with the questions above. Record with permission, or take notes.
free - 03
Write what repeats in In your own words → What the report gets wrong or misses. Press Save — the team reads it from now on.
free - 04
A customer gave you a number you may quote? Add it on Your report → Facts with its category and source, and press +.
free - 05
Optional: Ask the CMO about this document on Audience and market, with what you heard. What should change on my homepage?
15 credits
Done when You have five pages of notes, and you can say in a customer's words what makes people start looking.
Go deeper
University courses on the same topic, if you want to go further.
MIT Sloan
Listening to the Customer (15.821)Interviews and other ways of hearing what customers really need
Kellogg
Ethnographic Customer Insights (MKTG-949-0)Watching and talking to real customers, with a real company