Leave with an interview guide and a structured evidence record.
Start with a real buying situation
For the worked example, the audience is a property operations lead. Their problem is that maintenance dates and contractor responsibilities are scattered. The desired practical outcome is a visible schedule with assigned owners and escalation rules.
The example is deliberately bounded: some equipment needs specialist or manufacturer-authorised work. That condition should influence the promise, scope and next step rather than disappear from the marketing copy.
| Illustrative offer | a planned maintenance coordination service |
|---|---|
| Buyer question | Which asset failure would interrupt the most important activity? |
| Possible evidence | a sample asset register linked to work orders and completion records |
| Useful asset | an asset and maintenance responsibility register |
How to complete your customer interview guide
- Choose a learning question and recruit people who have relevant experience.
- Ask about a recent event rather than a hypothetical preference.
- Follow the sequence: trigger, attempted solution, decision and result.
- Record direct quotations with permission and keep interpretation separate.
- Look for repeated evidence while retaining contradictions and exceptions.
Worked example
These entries are illustrative planning material, not research findings or customer results. Keep the structure and replace the content with verified details.
| What we need to learn | Understand how a property operations lead deals with this problem: maintenance dates and contractor responsibilities are scattered. |
|---|---|
| A recent incident to explore | Which asset failure would interrupt the most important activity? |
| Follow-up questions | What happened next? Who was affected? What did you try? What did you compare before deciding? |
| Evidence and exact language | Record the participant’s exact account with permission. Example to investigate, not a finding: “We can coordinate the contractors ourselves.” |
| What remains uncertain | We have not yet established the frequency, cost or prevalence of the problem. Test those assumptions in further conversations. |
Review before using it
A useful operational measure in this example is scheduled tasks completed with acceptable evidence. That does not automatically make it a marketing attribution metric. Define the source, period and owner before drawing conclusions.
- Would the questions still make sense if the interviewee never bought from us?
- Check the delivery assumptions: Clarify which party commissions, performs, verifies and pays for each task.
- Use evidence rather than promises. Do not substitute a generic checklist for statutory or specialist inspection requirements.
- Discuss the draft with someone who understands the buying situation. Start with: “Which asset failure would interrupt the most important activity?”
- If the next step is a trial, define its purpose. One possible starting point is to map a limited asset group and its next scheduled maintenance cycle.
Common mistakes and a better review
Do not fill a missing fact with an impressive-sounding number. Mark it as an assumption, explain how you will check it and give that check an owner. A short, honest document is easier to use than an elaborate plan built on unknowns.
| Watch for | Asking whether someone likes your solution encourages polite approval. |
|---|---|
| A real buyer concern | We can coordinate the contractors ourselves. |
| Useful response direction | You may be able to. Let us compare the coordination workload, missed handovers and responsibility for tracking completion. |
| Evidence to collect | The buyer’s own account, a sample asset register linked to work orders and completion records, and records relevant to scheduled tasks completed with acceptable evidence. |
Your working sheet
Write your own version below. Notes are saved on this browser when local storage is available. Use Download to keep a separate copy; avoid adding confidential information on a shared device.
Example: Understand how a property operations lead deals with this problem: maintenance dates and contractor responsibilities are scattered.
Example: Which asset failure would interrupt the most important activity?
Example: What happened next? Who was affected? What did you try? What did you compare before deciding?
Example: Record the participant’s exact account with permission. Example to investigate, not a finding: “We can coordinate the contractors ourselves.”
Example: We have not yet established the frequency, cost or prevalence of the problem. Test those assumptions in further conversations.
Review your work
Tick only what you can support with your answer or practice. This is a reflection checklist, not an automated assessment.
Questions about this resource
How do I adapt this for my facilities management business?
Replace the audience, offer and evidence with your actual information. Begin with a recent buyer conversation about why maintenance dates and contractor responsibilities are scattered, then check which assumptions match your business.
Is the filled example ready to publish?
No. It is a working example. Verify claims, permissions, prices, current capabilities and any customer information before using it externally. Do not substitute a generic checklist for statutory or specialist inspection requirements.
What should I do after completing the worksheet?
Use it to make one decision or have one focused conversation. The intended output is an interview guide and a structured evidence record. Set a review date and update it when the evidence changes.
Illustrative business worksheet. No customer results, market rates, traffic volumes or performance benchmarks are implied. About these resources.