Asking a Customer What They Liked

Scene: You work at a small software company. A customer named Rosa renewed her plan last week. You call her for five minutes. You are not selling anything today. You only want the exact words she uses about your product. Her words are better than yours.

You: Hi Rosa, thanks for renewing. I have one question and then I will let you go. What is the part you would miss most if it was gone? Rosa: The weekly summary email. I forward it to my boss every Monday morning.

You: That is useful. Can I ask what you do right before you send it? Rosa: I delete two lines. The chart is fine, but the top part is too long for him. You: So you edit it by hand every week. Rosa: Every single week.

Look at what those two questions did. You did not ask if she was happy. Happy is a word with no edges. You asked what she would miss, and then what she still does by hand. The second answer is a bug report she did not know she was giving you.

Copy the two questions. What would you miss most if it was gone? And what do you do right before or right after you use it? Write down her exact words, not your summary of them. Then send the notes to your team on the same day.