How to find people for customer interviews

You

Problem. I've talked to Oksana and six friends of colleagues. That's everyone I know with a cat. My plan: buy a list of 2,000 pet-shop customers and start calling.

Alex Tutor

Cold calls can work, but they're the hardest road. People are busy, suspicious and have no reason to be open with a stranger.

Treat cold outreach as a starter, not a system. Its only job is to get your first two or three conversations. After that, the goal is to stop needing it.

You

And if 45 people out of 50 hang up on me?

Alex Tutor

Then you got five conversations. The other 45 only tell you that people dislike unexpected calls, which you already knew. Don't count rejections, count conversations.

And end every conversation, cold or not, with one question: “Who else should I talk to?” That's how one conversation turns into three.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

What is the main purpose of cold outreach in customer conversations?

Choose one answerTo reach as many people as possible, so the sample is representativeTo get the first few conversations that lead to introductions, so you need cold outreach less and lessTo measure what share of people are interested in the productTo test the sales script before the launch

You

I did ask Oksana who else to talk to. Listen to what she said.

Oksana

Talk to Halyna, she runs our district cat chat, about 3,000 people. Tell her I sent you. And my sister just adopted two kittens and complains about food prices every day.

Alex Tutor

That's a warm intro: someone both sides trust connects you. Halyna will answer you because Oksana vouched for you. A stranger with a list of phone numbers gets none of that.

Other sources: colleagues' relatives with cats, the groomers and shelters CatChow already works with, and people who once said “keep me posted, let me know if I can help”. Now you can take them up on it.

You

Isn't it awkward to write to someone who brushed me off a month ago?

Alex Tutor

Less than you think. You're not asking them to buy, just for one introduction. Some will ignore you, and that's fine: you're collecting conversations, not a perfect reply rate.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

Which of these are warm intros? Select all that apply.

Choose all that applyOksana messages Halyna: “Sofia from CatChow will write to you, she's great to talk to”Sofia sends the same message to 200 Instagram accounts with catsA CatChow developer asks his mother to introduce Sofia to her friends from the cat showSofia buys a database of pet-shop customers and calls themA groomer who works with CatChow gives Sofia the numbers of three regular clients after asking them first

You

Warm intros are slow, though. Where else can I find cat owners this week?

Alex Tutor

Where they already spend time: the district chat, the Saturday adoption day at the shelter, a cat show, the waiting room of a vet clinic. Become a familiar face there.

You

And say what? “Hi, I'm doing customer research”?

Alex Tutor

If it isn't a formal meeting, you don't need an official reason. Help carry the cages at the adoption day and ask people about their cats. Everyone loves that topic.

One catch. If you started as a volunteer, stay a volunteer. Switching to a sales pitch halfway through feels like a trick and burns trust. Treat such chats as pure learning.

Alex Tutor

Question 3

Sofia chatted with a woman at the shelter's adoption day while helping as a volunteer. The chat went well, so at the end Sofia should offer her a discount on the CatChow subscription.

TrueFalse

Alex Tutor

When you chase people, you're the one who wants something. Flip it: give them a reason to come to you.

Marta

We could host a free evening with a vet: “How to switch a picky cat to new food”. Our sales team would love those contacts.

Alex Tutor

Good idea, with one adjustment: the evening is for learning, not selling. The host gets instant credibility. Afterwards, chat with the people who asked the most questions.

Same with teaching and writing. A post in CatChow's newsletter about feeding senior cats, ending with “Tell us how you solved it”, brings people who care about exactly that problem.

You

What about a landing page for the subscription? We'd see how many people sign up.

Alex Tutor

A sign-up count is weak evidence on its own. The real value is a list of people who raised their hand. Write to each one and ask for a conversation.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

CatChow's landing page collected 300 emails in two weeks. What is the most useful next step for learning?

Choose one answerReport the conversion rate as proof that people want the subscriptionSend all 300 a survey asking how much they'd payEmail sign-ups personally and ask for a short conversation about how they buy food nowLaunch ads to double the number of sign-ups

You

Here's my message to Halyna: “Hi! Can I interview you? We're launching a food subscription and want your feedback. Do you have 15 minutes for a quick call?”

Alex Tutor

“Interview” sounds like a chore. “Your feedback on our subscription” reveals the idea and sounds like you want praise. “Quick call” says you'll rush. It reads like a sales call in disguise.

A better request has five parts, the Vision, Framing, Weakness, Pedestal, Ask formula. Vision: the problem you want to solve, without your idea. Framing: your stage, and that you're not selling.

Weakness: where exactly you're stuck. Pedestal: why this particular person can help. Ask: a clear request for help.

You

Doesn't the pedestal part sound like flattery?

Alex Tutor

Not if it's true and specific. “You've answered hundreds of questions from cat owners in your chat” is a fact. People like helping when they see they can really make a difference.

Alex Tutor

Question 5

Match each sentence of a meeting request to its part of the formula.

Tap an answer, then tap the row it belongs to. You can also drag.

“We want feeding a cat to take less time and worry for busy owners.”
“We're at an early stage and have nothing to sell yet.”
“We understand the shop side well, but we don't get how owners of several cats plan their purchases.”
“You've helped hundreds of owners in your chat, so you know their headaches better than anyone.”
“Could we meet for coffee next week? I'd value your view.”

Answers left to place

You

Do I have to write five separate paragraphs? That sounds long.

Alex Tutor

No. The parts can merge into two or three sentences and change order. If a message sounds pushy, start with the weakness. What matters is that she sees you know what you need.

You

And the word “subscription” goes?

Alex Tutor

It goes. Halyna should know what problem you're working on, not what you plan to build. And mention Oksana: a mutual contact is your credibility.

Alex Tutor

Question 6Short answer · AI-checked task

Rewrite Sofia's message to Halyna, the admin of a district cat owners' chat with about 3,000 members, using the five parts: vision, framing, weakness, pedestal, ask. Oksana introduced them. Keep it to 3–5 sentences.

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You

Halyna said yes! Now I'm nervous. It feels like I'm begging a busy person for a favour.

Alex Tutor

Try the advisory flip. You aren't asking for a favour. You're finding out whether Halyna could be a good adviser for CatChow. You're the one assessing.

You

Should I tell her that?

Alex Tutor

No, it's your inner stance. The questions stay the same, but you stop trying to please or convince her. Both of you will feel the difference.

And take control at the start. Repeat your frame in one sentence, mention Oksana, and ask your first question straight away. Otherwise she'll ask about your product and you'll slip into selling.

Alex Tutor

Question 7Short answer · AI-checked task

The call with Halyna starts. Write Sofia's first two or three sentences: restate the frame, mention who connected them, and ask the first question about Halyna's experience.

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You

So how many conversations do I need? Fifty? A hundred?

Alex Tutor

Keep going until you stop hearing anything new. That point is called saturation. With a well-defined group, it often comes after three to five conversations.

You

Hmm. I've had nine, and every one is different. One is about price, one about a picky cat, one about delivery to a village…

Alex Tutor

Then more conversations won't help. When ten talks give ten different stories, your customer segment is too broad. “Cat owners” is not one group. That's our next lesson.

Alex Tutor

Question 8

A PM at an online kids' clothing shop has had 12 conversations with “parents”. Every one describes a different main problem. What should she do?

Choose one answerHold 30 more conversations until a pattern appearsPick the problem mentioned with the most emotion and build for itNarrow the group, for example to parents of newborns buying their first wardrobe, and talk to themSend a survey to all customers to count which problem is most common

You

Marta asks for a plan: ten good conversations in the next two weeks, and no bought databases.

Alex Tutor

Then combine the routes: a couple of cold starts, the warm intros you already have, one or two places where cat owners gather, and one thing that brings them to you.

And don't forget the end of each conversation. “Who else should I talk to?” is what keeps the plan alive after the first week.

You

Got it. I'll write it up for Marta.

Alex Tutor

Question 9Case · AI-checked task

Write Sofia's two-week plan for ten conversations with cat owners.

Sofia has run out of people she knows. She has: Oksana's intro to Halyna (a district chat of about 3,000 members) and to Oksana's sister, CatChow's partner groomers and a shelter, a newsletter with 5,000 subscribers, and a few past contacts who said “let me know if I can help”. Buying databases is off the table.

Write a plan (150–300 words):

Which channels Sofia uses and roughly how many conversations she expects from each.
One meeting request she will send, built on the five parts.
How she keeps new conversations coming after the first ones.
How she'll know she has talked to enough people.

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You

So the hard part isn't the questions any more. It's finding people.

Alex Tutor

At first, yes. Once the snowball rolls, conversations find you. Just keep asking who else you should talk to.

Alex Tutor

Next time we'll slice “cat owners” into groups you can actually find, and meet someone who isn't a cat owner at all.

Alex Tutor

That’s the lesson. You answered every task — nicely done.

Next lesson: Customer slicing: who exactly to talk to