How to write an effective customer interview request
Customer interviews are essential when it comes to identifying and understanding customers’ pains as well as creating the appropriate solution. In a B2B SaaS company, you rarely have millions of customers that you can reach out to and your target persona is often busy. Therefore, you must send clear and efficient emails to maximize your chances of getting an interview. Here are tips to help you write effective interview requests:
1. Act like a human…
When you contact customers with whom you have already spoken, start your email with a personal note reminding them of your previous conversation. The goal is to have empathy for and create familiarity with your customer to encourage them to respond positively.
When reaching out to customers for the first time, introduce yourself and try to find a connection. One example could be to share that they have been recommended to you by their account manager — add their name.
2. Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched…
Explain what the purpose of your email is and share what problem you would like to tackle. Don’t fall into the trap of immediately giving some solutions, even if you are trying to explain the issue. You will introduce a bias that will restrict the conversation and prevent the flow of ideas.
2. Be transparent about why you are calling on them and what you are expecting
Now it is time to share where you are in your research and what you aim to discover with the interview. It could simply be knowing more about a given problem to make sure it exists or discussing pricing for a feature. Make it very obvious that you are not here to sell anything.
Don’t hesitate to also explain what your contact can gain from this interview (impact the next feature, get a summary of your findings, etc).
3. Show your weaknesses
Ask for help, share your current inability to understand specific points. Here again, the objective is to create empathy by showing your real interest in the topic and your need for help.
4. Explain why them
You should quickly explain why they are well-positioned to answer your questions. Try to put them on a pedestal. People usually like to talk about their problems, especially if they feel like you can do something to help them.
5. Ask for a call/meeting/beer
Explicitly ask to meet with them. Indicate how long the interview will last. Less is more, telling them you only need 15 minutes of their time, should increase response rates and be less of a burden on both of your schedules.
To reduce friction and ease your contact effort add some slots. You also can use a shared calendar like Calendly to avoid back and forth but by experience, it doesn’t work as well as slots.
Final: Send your email (avoid Friday afternoon)
Email example:
Hello,
I’m Emmanuel, Product Manager at Shipup. I’m reaching out because Camille, your account manager, shared with us your pain to handle carrier claim requests.
We are currently looking at ways to reduce the time spent on carrier claims to make life easier for support teams. It is the beginning of our research, we are trying to understand in detail the entire process.
For now, we had hard times figuring out when those claims are created. As a Head of Customer Success at Nike, your feedback would be invaluable to us in understanding the process.
Would you be available in the next few days to discuss this? (30 mn)
Here are some slots:
- Tuesday 26 — between 2 pm and 3 pm
- Wednesday 27 — between 2 pm and 5:30 pm
- Friday 29th — all-day
Regards,
