Customer research questions: 25 to ask before you change anything

Customer research questions are the questions you ask real buyers, and people who nearly bought, to find out why they chose you, what nearly stopped them and how they describe the problem in their own words. Good answers tell you what to change in your offer, your ads and your pages, and what to leave alone.

Most owners skip this because they think they already know their customers. Then they’re surprised by what people actually say. Below are the 25 questions I use, grouped by what they uncover, and how to run the conversations so the answers are worth trusting.

Who to talk to

You’ll learn the most from three groups:

1. Recent buyers. Bought in the last few months, so they still remember why.
2. People who didn’t buy. Enquired, got a quote, or abandoned a cart, then went elsewhere or did nothing.
3. Your best long-term customers. The ones you’d clone if you could. They show you who to aim for.

Don’t only talk to your fans. They’ll make you feel good and teach you less.

How to run the conversation

1. Pick 5 to 8 peopleRecent buyers and near-misses
2. Ask about the pastWhat happened, not what if
3. Write their exact wordsRecord, with permission
4. Group the patternsWhat came up again and again
5. Change one thingOffer, ad, page or follow-up

A few rules that make the answers useful:

• Keep it short. 15 to 20 minutes. Say why you’re asking and that there’s no sale at the end.
• Don’t pitch. The moment you start selling, people start being polite.
• Ask, then wait. Silence after an answer often brings the most honest part.
• Ask “why” and “tell me more” a lot. The first answer is usually the tidy version.
• Record if they agree, or have someone else take notes, so you can focus on listening.

The 25 customer research questions

Before they looked: the trigger

1. What was going on in your business or life when you started looking for this?
2. What made it important enough to deal with then, rather than later?
3. What were you doing about it before?
4. What would have happened if you’d done nothing?

The search: what they considered

5. Where did you look first?
6. What else did you consider, including doing it yourself or doing nothing?
7. What did you type into Google, or who did you ask?
8. How did you first hear about us?
9. What made you rule out the other options?

The decision: what nearly stopped them

10. What almost stopped you from buying?
11. What questions did you need answered before you were ready?
12. What did you think about the price when you first saw it?
13. Who else had a say in the decision?
14. What finally made you decide?

After buying: what they got

15. What was the first thing you noticed after you started?
16. What’s different now compared to before?
17. What, if anything, has disappointed you?
18. How would you describe what we do to a friend?
19. What would you miss most if we stopped?

For people who didn’t buy

20. What were you hoping to find when you contacted us?
21. What did you end up doing instead?
22. What would have needed to be different for you to choose us?
23. Was there anything confusing or off-putting along the way?
24. How did our price compare with what you expected?
25. Is there anything you wish we’d asked you?

You won’t use all 25 every time. Pick eight to ten that fit what you’re trying to learn, and keep the rest in your back pocket for follow-ups.

What to do with the answers

Put every answer in one document, grouped by question. Then look for what comes up three or more times. That’s a pattern worth acting on.

If you keep hearing	It usually means	Change
The same words for the problem	That’s how buyers search and think	Use those words in headlines and ads
“I wasn’t sure it was for me”	The offer is too broad	Name who it’s for. See value proposition examples
“The price surprised me”	Price shown without enough context	Show scope before price. See how much to charge
“I nearly went with someone else because they replied first”	Slow follow-up	Fix reply times. See speed to lead
The same unanswered question	A gap on your page	Add it to the page and your FAQ
A result you didn’t advertise	A selling point you’re missing	Lead with it

The exact words matter more than they might seem. People skim. Jakob Nielsen estimated users read at most 28% of the words on a typical page visit, and 20% is more likely (NN/g, 2008). The few words they do read should be ones they’d use themselves. Customer language is also the best raw material for ad openings. The ad hooks guide shows how to turn a customer’s phrase into an ad.

An example of the process

This is an illustration, not a client story. A mobile dog groomer talks to six recent customers and three people who got a quote and didn’t book. Four customers say some version of “my dog hates the salon, so I needed someone who comes to us.” The groomer’s site leads with “Professional grooming services.” Two of the non-buyers say they weren’t sure the price included nail trims. The changes write themselves: a headline about dogs that hate salons, and a line under the price saying exactly what’s included.

Common mistakes

• Asking “Would you buy this?” People are optimistic about their future selves. Ask what they did, not what they would do.
• Leading questions. “Don’t you think the price is fair?” gets you a polite yes and no information.
• Only talking to happy customers. Near-misses tell you what’s costing you sales.
• Asking for features. Customers are good at describing problems and bad at designing solutions. Listen for the problem.
• Doing it once. Customers and markets change. A short round every few months keeps you honest.

Where this fits

Customer research is the cheapest way to fix an offer, because it tells you what to say instead of making you guess. Most of what I wrote in where growth gets stuck starts with understanding how the customer sees the problem, and it’s the first thing I’d do if you’re starting a business with no experience.

In the Growth Diagnostic, I look at your offer through your customers’ eyes before touching the ads. If you’d like help, book a call.

Sources

• Nielsen, J. “How Little Do Users Read?” Nielsen Norman Group, 2008. nngroup.com

Questions people ask

How many customers should I talk to?

Five to eight conversations with recent buyers usually show you the main patterns, and a few more with people who didn't buy fill in the gaps. Stop when you keep hearing the same things.

Should I use a survey or interviews?

Start with short conversations. They let you ask follow-up questions and hear the exact words people use. Surveys are useful later, to check how common something you heard in conversations really is.

What questions should I avoid in customer research?

Avoid asking people to predict the future, like 'Would you buy this?', and avoid questions that suggest the answer, like 'Don't you think our price is fair?' Ask about what they actually did, when and why.

Should I pay people for customer research calls?

Recent customers are often happy to help for free if you keep it short and say why you're asking. For people who didn't buy, a small thank-you such as a gift card or a discount can help, as long as you make clear it doesn't depend on what they say.