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Customer Development: Talking to Customers

Learn to talk to customers so they can't lie to you: ask about past behaviour instead of opinions, spot compliments and fluff, ask the scary questions and tell real commitment from polite interest. Practice on interview transcripts from CatChow and other product teams. Based on ideas from The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick.

Free15 lessons~7 h 58 min of learning

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  1. Module 1

    Why customers lie

    Why "do you like my idea?" is useless, the three rules of the Mom Test, and how to turn bad questions into good ones.

    1. 1.1Why “do you like my idea?” is uselessWhy customers answer your idea with polite yeses, how false positives make a team confidently wrong, and how to tell opinions from facts.~32 min
    2. 1.2The three rules of the Mom TestTalk about their life, ask about specific past events, listen more than you talk, and remember who owns the problem and who owns the solution.~29 min
    3. 1.3Bad questions vs good questionsA workshop on Sofia's question list: replacing opinion, hypothetical, price and leading questions with ones about current behaviour, spend and past attempts.~31 min
    Module examComplete 3 more lessons to unlock

  2. Module 2

    Bad data

    Compliments, fluff and feature requests: how to recognise them in a conversation and dig for the real problem underneath.

    1. 2.1Compliments and how to deflect themWhy praise is the most dangerous answer in a customer conversation, how to spot it in your notes, and how to steer back to facts without being rude.~30 min
    2. 2.2Fluff: generic, future and hypothetical answersHow to spot vague answers (“I always”, “I would”, “I might”), anchor them to one real past event, and tell complainers from customers.~31 min
    3. 2.3Feature requests and ideas: digging for the real problemWhy customer feature requests are clues, not specs; which questions uncover the need behind them; and why strong emotions and your own pitching matter.~30 min
    Module examComplete 3 more lessons to unlock

  3. Module 3

    Asking what matters

    The scary questions you avoid, your three big questions before every conversation, and keeping it a casual chat rather than a meeting.

    1. 3.1Scary questions you avoidSofia's calls are clean but trivial. She learns to ask the questions that could kill the idea, to welcome a lukewarm “meh”, to start broad, and to tell product risk from market risk.~34 min
    2. 3.2Your 3 big questions before every conversationSofia and Marta prepare their three big questions: how to pick them, why each type of person gets its own list, what to research instead of asking, and why the list keeps changing.~30 min
    3. 3.3Keeping it casual: conversations, not meetingsSofia's calendar fills up with hour-long “interviews” that make people perform. She learns to spot formality, match the length to the goal, say little about the idea and learn in five-minute chats.~31 min
    Module examComplete 3 more lessons to unlock

  4. Module 4

    Commitment and advancement

    Time, reputation and money as signs of real interest, pushing for a concrete next step, and what to do with "sounds great, keep me posted".

    1. 4.1Commitment currencies: time, reputation, moneyWhy a compliment proves nothing once you show your idea, what counts as a real commitment, and how to read the three currencies customers pay with: time, reputation and money.~34 min
    2. 4.2Next steps and advancing the conversationWhy no meeting “went well”, how to tell a real next step from a polite stall, how to rescue a conversation after a compliment and why you decide what to ask for before you go.~33 min
    3. 4.3Zombie leads and “keep me posted”How to recognise leads that never say yes or no, why they are dangerous, how to ask for a clear answer politely and why, early on, learning matters more than revenue.~32 min
    Module examComplete 3 more lessons to unlock

  5. Module 5

    The process

    Finding people to talk to, choosing exactly which customers to start with, and turning notes from many conversations into team decisions.

    1. 5.1Finding people to talk toWhy cold outreach is only a starting push, how warm intros and communities keep conversations coming, how to ask for a meeting in five parts, and when to stop.~34 min
    2. 5.2Customer slicing: who exactly to talk toHow to tell your segment is too broad, slice it into groups you can actually find, pick the first one, and notice the people in the purchase you forgot to talk to.~33 min
    3. 5.3Notes, synthesis and working as a teamWhy customer learning must not live in one head, how to prep and review as a team, take notes with quotes and symbols, spot a ritual that teaches nothing, and a recap of the whole course.~34 min
    Module examComplete 3 more lessons to unlock