Most founders treat customer interviews like therapy sessions.
"Tell me about your pain points." "Walk me through your workflow." "What would make your life easier?"
And the customer — because they're nice, or bored, or genuinely trying to help — tells you everything you want to hear.
"Oh yeah, I'd definitely use that." "That sounds really useful." "Let me know when it's ready!"
You walk away feeling validated.
Three months later, you launch. You email them.
Crickets.
Real example from last week:
A founder pitched their AI drug prediction platform to a Head of Biology at a preclinical oncology company.
The biologist spent 30 minutes explaining:
PDO models (Patient-Derived Organoids – small, 3D cell cultures used for testing) fail QC (Quality Control) about 30% of the time
Testing 10 PDO models takes 9 months
Cost constraints prevent them from using better models
They know their current approach "probably isn't the best" but it's all they can afford
The founder explained their solution beautifully. Then ended with:
"So where are you in the process now?"
No ask. No price. No timeline. No commitment.
The biologist was telling them she had urgent problems and budget constraints. The founder just didn’t close.
What they should have asked:
"You mentioned you're spending 9 months and dealing with 30% failure rates on PDO testing. If we could give you the same de-risking data in 2 weeks for 50% less cost, and you saw validation data from 3 other oncology companies, would you pilot this on your next program?"
Then shut up and wait.
That's the difference between a therapy session and getting paid.
Why this keeps happening:
When customers say "that sounds useful" or "let me know when it's ready," they're not lying. They genuinely think they'd use it.
The problem is you asked questions that let them say "yes" without committing anything real.
Today I'm giving you the exact script I've seen work hundreds of times to separate real customers from polite people who will ghost you later.
Your goal is simple: get people to put money down — even if it's $5, even if it's symbolic, even if you discount 90%.
The problem with most customer interviews
Most founders ask questions that are easy to say yes to:
❌ "Would you use this?"
❌ "Does this sound helpful?"
❌ "Would you pay for something like this?"
These questions are useless because they don't cost the customer anything to say yes.
It's like asking someone "Would you go to the gym more if there was one next to your house?" Everyone says yes. Then the gym opens and nobody shows up.
What you actually need to know:
Do they have the problem right now?
Are they actively trying to solve it?
Will they pay you money to solve it?
When will they pay you?
And you can't get real answers by asking directly.
You have to ask questions that force them to reveal the truth through their actions, not their intentions.
The script that actually works
I'm going to give you the exact questions. Use them in this order.
These questions assume you already did the work from Drop #1:
You've identified Group 5 customers (urgent, budget, buying now)
You know who the budget owner is
You know roughly what you'd charge
If you haven't done that work yet, go back and do it. This script won't work if you're talking to the wrong people.
Part 1: Test Urgency (The Top 3 Check)
Start here. If they fail this part, end the call politely. Don't waste time.
"Where does [this problem] rank in your top 3 priorities to solve this quarter?"
Listen carefully.
If they hesitate, or say "top 5" or "we're thinking about it," they're not urgent. Politely end the call.
You want: "It's #1" or "It's #2, right after [other thing]."
If they pass, next question:
"What happens if you don't solve this in the next 90 days?"
Bad answers:
"Nothing really, we'll just keep doing what we're doing"
"It would be annoying but we'd survive"
Vague hand-waving about "inefficiency"
Good answers:
"We'll miss our Q4 revenue target"
"I'll have to hire two more people and I don't have budget"
"We're losing $X per month and my CEO is asking about it every week"
If you don't hear urgency here, politely end the call. They're Group 3 or 4, not Group 5.
Part 2: : Quantify the Pain (Cost Calculation)
This is where most founders stop digging. Don't.
"Walk me through exactly how you're solving this today."
Let them talk. Take notes on:
What tools they're using
How many hours per week someone spends on this
Any workarounds or duct tape solutions
Then drill in:
"How much do those tools cost per year?" (Add it up together)
"How many hours per week does your team spend on this?"
Then calculate with them: [Hours per week] × [hourly rate] × 52 weeks = annual cost in human time
"So you're spending roughly $[tools + time] per year on this problem. Does that sound right?"
Get them to confirm the number. Make it real.
This number becomes your pricing anchor later.
Example:
"So you're spending $12K/year on Salesforce + Zapier + 10 hours/week of manual data entry at $50/hour. That's $12K + $26K = $38K/year to solve this problem today. Does that math check out?"
Now when you pitch a $15K/year solution, it's a no-brainer.
Part 3: Force the Commitment (Willingness to Pay)
Engineers: this is where you'll feel like a sleazy salesperson. You're not. You're doing them a favor by not wasting their time building something they won't actually buy. The discomfort you feel is your signal that you're asking the right question.
Now comes the hard part. Most founders chicken out here.
Don't.
"If I could solve [specific problem] in the next 60 days, and it cost you [30–50% of current cost], would you be willing to pilot it with us?"
Notice what you're NOT asking:
"Would you be interested?"
"Does that sound reasonable?"
"Would you consider it?"
You're asking a yes/no question about a specific commitment.
Now shut up and wait.
If they say yes → Move to Part 4.
If they hesitate or hedge:
"What would have to be true for you to say yes?"
Listen carefully. This tells you:
Are there missing features? (Okay, you can build those)
Is the price too high? (Probe: what price would work?)
Do they not have authority? (Find out who does)
Are they not actually urgent? (End the call)
Part 4: Seal the Deal (The LOI Lock)
Here's where you separate real customers from people who are just being nice.
"Great. I want to make sure we're on the same page. Here's what I'm hearing: If we build [specific features], and it solves [specific problem], you'd be willing to pay $[amount] by [date]. Is that accurate?"
If they say yes, send them a quantified LOI within 24 hours.
If they start backtracking → They were never serious. Thank them and move on.
What is a Quantified LOI? (The Non-Binding Reality Check)
A quantified Letter of Intent (LOI) is a simple document that says:
"If you build X, Y, Z features to this level of quality, we commit to paying $[amount] by [date]."
It's not legally binding. But it's a hell of a lot more real than "yeah we'd probably use that."
Here's a template:
LETTER OF INTENT
[Date]
[Customer Company Name] ("Customer") intends to purchase [Product Name] from [Your Company] ("Vendor") under the following terms:
Scope: Vendor will deliver:
[Specific feature 1]
[Specific feature 2]
[Specific feature 3]
Success criteria:
[Measurable outcome 1]
[Measurable outcome 2]
Pricing: Customer will pay $[amount] [monthly/annually] upon delivery of the above scope.
Timeline: Vendor will deliver by [date]. Customer will onboard within [timeframe].
This letter represents current intent and is not a binding contract. Final terms will be formalized in a separate agreement.
Signed, [Customer Name & Title]
How to actually get them to sign it:
After your call, send an email within 24 hours:
"Hey [Name] —
Great talking today. Based on our conversation, I've drafted a quick LOI to make sure we're aligned on what we're building and what you'd pay for it.
Nothing binding — just want to make sure I'm building the right thing for you.
Can you take a look and let me know if I captured it correctly?
[Attach LOI]
Thanks, [You]"
If they sign → You have a real customer.
If they ghost → They were never serious.
If they want to change terms → Negotiate, but watch for red flags (drastically lower price, vague success criteria, distant timeline = they're not urgent).
Red flags that mean you should walk away
Even if they pass the script, watch for these:
🚩 "Let me run this by my team" → You're talking to someone without authority. Find the decision maker.
🚩 "Can you build [custom feature] for us first?" → They want free consulting. Unless they're paying for it, say no.
🚩 "We'd love to do a free pilot" → Free pilots almost never convert. If they won't pay even $1, they're not serious.
🚩 "Our budget resets in Q2" → That's 6 months away. They're not urgent. Move on.
🚩 Accepting "very interested" as validation → "Interested" means nothing. Get a signed LOI or payment.
🚩 Building before you have 3–5 LOIs → If you can't get 3–5 people to commit before you build, what makes you think 100 will pay after?
🎯 B2C Instead? The $5 Commitment Check
Charge $5–10 for early access or pre-sell a discounted annual plan.
If people won’t pay $5 today, they won’t pay $10 per month later. As a check: if fewer than 2–5 percent of interested users will pay anything, you don’t have validation. You have a mailing list.
Next drop: How founders with zero network get their first 10–50 paying customers. Includes the cold outreach template I’ve seen hit 40–60% reply rates.
— Christine
P.S. Reply to this email with: (1) Who you're targeting, (2) What problem you're solving, (3) What you're planning to ask them. I'll tell you whether your script gets real signal or just polite noise.