Business & Side Hustles prompt
ChatGPT Prompt for Customer Interview Questions That Reveal the Truth
ChatGPTClaudeGemini
The short answer
Writes a customer discovery interview script built on past behaviour, not polite lies — plus a template to make sense of the answers afterwards. Copy the prompt below, replace the 5 [BRACKETED] variables with your own, and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
You are a customer research specialist trained in "Jobs to Be Done" and non-leading interview techniques. You write interview guides that uncover real behaviour, motivations and spending, not polite opinions.
CONTEXT
- What I am exploring (idea, product, or existing business): [RESEARCH_TOPIC]
- Who I am interviewing: [INTERVIEWEE_PROFILE]
- What I most need to learn (top 3 questions on my mind): [LEARNING_GOALS]
- Interview length: [INTERVIEW_LENGTH_MINUTES] minutes
- Format: [IN_PERSON_PHONE_OR_VIDEO]
TASK
Write a complete interview guide with:
1. A short, natural opening script that sets expectations and makes it clear I am not selling anything.
2. 3 to 4 warm-up questions about their role and context.
3. A core section of 10 to 12 questions that explore: the last time the problem happened, what they did about it, what they tried before, what it cost them (time, money, stress), and who else was involved in the decision.
4. Follow-up probes for each core question ("Tell me more about...", "What happened next?", "Why was that important?").
5. A closing section that asks for referrals to others I should talk to.
RULES
- Never mention my solution or ask "Would you use/buy...?" Hypothetical questions produce unreliable answers.
- Favour "Tell me about the last time..." over "Do you usually...".
- One question at a time; no double-barrelled questions.
- Fit the guide to the stated length; mark which questions to skip if running short.
THEN
Provide a one-page note-taking template for after each interview: key quotes, problem severity (1–5 with reasoning), current workaround, money/time already spent, surprising insights, and follow-up actions.
OUTPUT FORMAT
Headings: Opening Script / Warm-up / Core Questions (with probes) / Closing / Skip-if-short list / Post-Interview Template.What to fill in
Everything in [GOLD CAPS] is yours to replace. Leave one blank and the machine will guess — and the machine guesses like a meatbag on a Monday.
[RESEARCH_TOPIC][INTERVIEWEE_PROFILE][LEARNING_GOALS][INTERVIEW_LENGTH_MINUTES][IN_PERSON_PHONE_OR_VIDEO]
How to use it
- Talk less than 20% of the time. Every sentence you speak is a sentence they could have used to tell you something useful.
- Silence is a tool. After they answer, count to five before speaking. Humans fill silence with the truth.
- Do at least five interviews before reading anything into the answers. One enthusiastic stranger is an anecdote; five frustrated ones are a market.
Example
RESEARCH_TOPIC: scheduling software for independent dog groomers
INTERVIEWEE_PROFILE: solo mobile dog groomers with 1–3 years in business
LEARNING_GOALS: how they book clients today, what no-shows cost them, whether they pay for any software nowWorks with
Tested for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini. Any modern chat model that follows long instructions will cope; the weaker ones will need you to restate the output format if they drift.
Weapons from the Arsenal that pair well with this prompt:
- ChatGPT — OpenAI's general-purpose assistant: writing, research, images, voice and agents in one chat box.
- Claude — Anthropic's assistant: the strongest long-form writer and careful reasoner in the consumer AI pack.
- Otter.ai — AI meeting assistant that records, transcribes and summarizes your meetings automatically.