How to Run Customer Interviews That Actually Uncover Insights (Not Opinions)

The difference between a good interview and a great one isn’t how much customers talk — it’s what you learn when they do.

Why Most Customer Interviews Don’t Work

Every product manager knows customer interviews are important.
But let’s be honest — most of them don’t go very well.

We ask questions, take notes, and feel great about “talking to users.”
Then we walk away with surface-level comments:

“It should be faster.”
“I’d love a dark mode.”
“It needs to integrate with Slack.”

Useful? Maybe.
Insightful? Not really.

The problem isn’t the users — it’s how we ask, listen, and interpret.
We collect opinions, when what we really need are insights.

Insights tell you why something matters, how users behave, and what motivates them to act.
That’s the foundation of real product discovery.

The Goal of a Customer Interview

A customer interview isn’t about getting feedback on your idea.
It’s about understanding their world — how they think, feel, and make decisions in the context of their work or life.

You’re not looking for compliments or feature requests.
You’re looking for truths: patterns, pain points, and goals that guide real behavior.

Or as legendary PM coach Teresa Torres puts it:

“Your goal isn’t to validate your idea. It’s to discover what’s true.”

Step 1: Prepare Like a Researcher, Not a Salesperson

Most bad interviews start with the wrong intent — trying to prove that your idea is good.
Instead, approach it like research: curious, open, and free of assumptions.

Before the call, define:

• Who you’re talking to — not just their role, but their relationship to the problem you’re solving.

• What you want to learn — focus on behaviors, not feature opinions.

• Your hypothesis — what you think is true, so you know what to test.

Keep a short, flexible discussion guide — no more than 5–7 key questions.
You’re not interrogating; you’re exploring.

Step 2: Ask About the Past, Not the Future

If you only remember one thing, make it this:

“People are terrible at predicting their future behavior — but great at describing their past.”

So stop asking:

“Would you use this feature?”

Instead, ask:

“Tell me about the last time you tried to solve this problem.”

Here’s why this matters:

• The past is evidence. It shows what people actually did, not what they think they’ll do.

• The future is speculation. It’s easy to say yes to a hypothetical product when there’s nothing to lose.

Focus your interview around stories, not opinions.
Stories reveal pain points, motivations, and context.

Step 3: Go Deep — Then Go Silent

Good interviews feel like conversations. Great ones feel like confessions.

To get there, you need to listen more than you speak.
Use silence as a tool. People fill silence with truth.

When someone gives a short answer, don’t move on — dig deeper:

• “Can you tell me more about that?”

• “What was frustrating about that experience?”

• “Why did you choose that tool?”

You’re peeling back layers until you reach emotion — and emotion drives behavior.

Step 4: Separate Signal from Noise

After 5 or 10 interviews, you’ll have a wall of notes. The challenge is turning them into something usable.

Start by tagging or grouping answers around patterns:

• Pain points — recurring frustrations

• Jobs to be done — what they were trying to accomplish

• Workarounds — signs of unmet needs

• Triggers — what makes them take action

If you see the same pattern in multiple stories, that’s an insight worth exploring.

🧠 Pro tip: Tools like Lane, Dovetail, or Notion can help you tag feedback and connect insights directly to themes or goals.

The goal isn’t to summarize what users said — it’s to discover why they said it.

Step 5: Share and Connect Insights With Your Team

Insights are only valuable if they influence decisions.
Too often, interview findings get lost in docs or slide decks.

Instead, connect them directly to your roadmap or OKRs.
Ask:

• How does this insight validate (or challenge) our assumptions?

• Does this change what we should prioritize next?

• What experiment or MVP can we run to test it?

Sharing insights visually helps the team see the “why” behind each decision — not just the “what.”

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even experienced PMs fall into these traps:

• Pitching too early. Wait until the end (or skip it entirely).

• Asking leading questions. “Wouldn’t it be great if…” kills objectivity.

• Interviewing the wrong people. Talk to those who actually experience the problem.

• Over-analyzing one conversation. Insights come from patterns, not anecdotes.

The Mindset Shift: From Feedback to Understanding

Customer interviews aren’t about validation. They’re about empathy.

You’re not trying to hear what you want — you’re trying to understand what’s real.

That requires humility, curiosity, and patience.
It’s not glamorous work, but it’s the foundation of great products.

Because every aha moment — every roadmap insight, every killer feature — begins with a conversation that actually uncovered the truth.

Final Thought: Listen for Behavior, Not Beliefs

Great interviews don’t reveal opinions. They reveal patterns of behavior.

When you stop asking customers what they want and start asking why they do what they do, you move from collecting feedback to uncovering insight.

And that’s the moment you stop guessing — and start building what truly matters.