Building discussion guide (or DG) for business, research or assessing the market is not always an easy job. You might wonder if you have written down all the necessary questions, do those questions cover all the aspects of your objectives, or what would consumers think about the questions, etc.

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B2B
MARKETING
& BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT

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The 10 questions guideline
is suitable for exploratory survey using face-to-
face interview method with customers. The
objectives are to understand customers usage
and purchase behaviors, jobs they hire your
products or solutions to do and other details
information that are relevant to your products
throughout their work process.
*** IMPORTANT NOTE ***
We should focus on exploring and
understanding the “OUTCOME” derived from
your products/services solution (that you will
develop in the future)

3. BEFORE
YOU START
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Get a good understanding
of who your customers are
✴ Industry sector
✴ Size of company
✴ Business operation
✴ Roles and responsibilities of your
targeted respondents

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WHY
do you need to use PRODUCT X?
[Elicit for benefits gain, problem solved or a job
accomplished by PRODUCT X]
This question aims to understand the
reason that customers hire a product /
service to do or to solve problem they are
concerned
1
Let’s start with

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2
WHO
does use PRODUCT X? Are users
also decision makers?
[Ask to gain understanding on customer
purchasing process and identifying all relevant
stakeholders who would take part into buying
products]

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3
HOW
do you use PRODUCT X? Are you
satisfied with the job done by
PRODUCT X? What's else could be
improved?
[Ask to gain understanding on customer usage
behavior and gain their point of view whether
they are happy with the current solutions. In
addition, ask for suggestion for future
improvement]

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HOW MUCH
do you pay to get the job done (by
using PRODUCT X)?
[Ask your customers to describe all relevant
costs on hiring PRODUCT X or SERVICE X to
get the job done ]
4

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5
WHEREdo you purchase PRODUCT X and
other relevant solutions? Is it
convenient for you?
[Also ask customers about related expenses they
have to pay to get PRODUCT X deliver to their
office?]

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WHEN
would you buy / store / use / repair
& maintenance / dispose
PRODUCT X?
[Ask your customers also about purchase and
usage frequency as well as how often they have
to do the repair and maintenance]
6

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7
TO GET THE JOBs DONE
How important of these following
outcome to your business?
➡ to get the job done FASTER
➡ to get MORE job done
➡ to get the job done BETTER
➡ to get the job done at LOWER COST
➡ to get the job done…..
[Focus on the outcome. Ask customers the level of
importance on different factors that are relevant to
PRODUCT X or the jobs]

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8
WHAT IF
you can get the job done______
(FASTER, MORE JOB, BETTER,
LOWER COST or …. ) how would it
benefit an overall work process?
[Ask your customers what would have changed if
the outcome change e.g. faster, better, at lower
costs, use the factors you define in the previous
question]

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9
WHAT
are solutions you are using to
achieve the better outcome you
think it’s important (ref. Question 7)?
[Check with customers if there is any process or
other products they use together with
PRODUCT X in order to gain better performance
or better outcome of a work process]

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WHAT
would be better off for you…
a. to get better outcome at higher costs
b. to pay at lower cost with less satisfying outcome
c. to use the current solution I am using
[Ask customers to choose one of the above choices and explain why
the option is the best for them]
10

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DO NOT
rely on a single source of information.
Always check if your targeted customer
industry is growing. PEST Analysis should
always be a fundamental macro analysis
for assessing a market opportunity

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THANK YOU
We hope these 10 questions will
help you build your own version of
customer interview guide and if you
need any help, please do not
hesitate to contact us
EMAIL: contact@canvassco.com
WEBSITE: www.canvassco.com
CONTACT US