How is customer interviewing different from focus groups?

Customer interviews are 1:1 and deep. Focus groups are small groups (6-10) and explore reactions and discussion dynamics. Different formats for different research questions.

What does a customer interview cost?

€500-€800 per call all-in. Higher for very senior customer contacts or scarce categories. Volume-discounted in programmatic VoC subscriptions.

Will customers actually speak to a third party about their vendor?

Yes, when approached professionally and with assurance of confidentiality. Conversion rates from outreach to scheduled interview typically 30-50% in B2B contexts.

Customer Interview

A customer interview is a structured primary-research conversation with a current, former or prospective customer of a topic company — typically run by an independent third party to surface honest perception of product, service and competitive consideration.

Term: Customer Interview
Section: Glossary
Last refreshed: Q1 2026

01/In Depth3–5 paragraphs

Customer interviews are the workhorse format for due-diligence customer reference work, voice-of-customer programmes, and competitive intelligence on competitor customer bases. Format is typically 30-60 minutes per customer.

Independence of the interviewer materially affects candour. Customers tell third-party interviewers what they will not tell account teams. This is the central justification for outsourcing VoC and customer reference work rather than running it internally.

Standard structure: warm-up situation context, recent purchase or renewal experience, perception of product/service strengths and weaknesses, competitive consideration, future intent. Behavioural questions (about specific past decisions) yield more reliable signal than hypothetical or opinion questions.

Compliance considerations for customer interviews: customers can disclose what they choose, including their own internal decisions; they should not disclose confidential information from the topic company that they're contractually bound to protect. Per-call attestation by the customer covers this.

02/Examples4 concrete cases

+A PE buyer running 12 customer reference calls on a target's top accounts for buy-side CDD
+A B2B SaaS vendor running 25 customer interviews per quarter for ongoing VoC
+A hedge fund analyst commissioning customer interviews on a public company's enterprise customer base
+A competitor running customer interviews on a competitor's recently-churned accounts

03/Frequently Asked3 questions

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04/See AlsoWhere this applies

04.1

EXPERT CONSULTATIONS

One-hour calls with vetted operators, executives and specialists across 50,000+ professionals. Scheduled in 3 to 5 business days. From €500.

04.2

VOICE OF CUSTOMER

Programmatic third-party customer interviews — feedback your customers won't give you directly.

05/Related Terms3 suggestions

VOC

Voice of Customer (VoC) is a structured, recurring primary-research programme with a company's current customer base,…

PRIMARY RESEARCH

Primary research is original data collected directly from sources — operators, customers, channel partners, ex-employ…

WIN-LOSS

Win-loss analysis is the structured practice of interviewing recent buyers — both those who chose you and those who c…

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