Ask Questions That Reveal Real Buying Behavior
Customer conversations are valuable, but the questions matter.
One of the weakest questions you can ask is:
“Would you pay for this?”
The person knows what answer you want.
They may also be imagining a hypothetical future in which the product is excellent, perfectly priced, and exactly what they need.
Instead, ask about reality.
Try questions such as:
“Tell me about the last time you had this problem.”
“What did you do about it?”
“What are you using now?”
“Have you paid for anything to solve it?”
“What did that cost?”
“What made you choose that option?”
“What do you dislike about it?”
“Have you tried replacing it?”
“Who makes the purchasing decision?”
“What would need to happen before solving this became a priority?”
Notice what those questions have in common.
They focus on behavior that already happened.
That reduces the amount of imagination required from the customer.
Y Combinator’s How to Talk to Users guidance makes a similar distinction: conversations are more useful when they focus on specific experiences and past behavior rather than hypothetical future promises.
You want to understand how customers behave when the problem becomes real.
Find Out Who Actually Controls the Money
For some businesses, the user and buyer are the same person.
For others, they are not.
An employee may desperately want new software but have no authority to buy it.
A teenager may want a tutoring service while a parent controls the payment.
A department manager may like your consulting offer but need approval from finance.
A restaurant employee may love your ordering system while the owner determines whether the business will spend money on it.
This distinction matters because willingness to use something is not necessarily willingness—or authority—to purchase it.
When researching a business-to-business idea, ask:
- Who experiences the problem?
- Who would use the solution?
- Who approves the purchase?
- Whose budget pays for it?
- What information does that person need before saying yes?
Sometimes one person fills every role.
Sometimes four different people do.
Knowing the difference prevents you from collecting enthusiastic feedback from people who could never actually become customers.
If your customer definition is still broad, revisit How to Identify Your Target Customer Before Starting a Business.
Use a Price Range, Not One Perfect Number
Early pricing research often gets stuck because people think they need to discover the perfect price.
You do not.
At this stage, you are trying to find a plausible range.
Suppose you want to sell a specialized spreadsheet system for freelance photographers.
You might discover that:
- free templates are widely available,
- basic paid templates sell at relatively low prices,
- more complete business systems cost substantially more,
- bookkeeping software requires a monthly subscription,
- and personalized setup help costs far more than a template.
Now you can position your offer within a range of alternatives.
You can ask:
What would make my solution worth more than a free template?
What would make it cheaper or simpler than hiring someone?
What specific result justifies the price?
What type of buyer would value this most?
The goal is not to find a magic number.
The goal is to connect price to value, alternatives, and customer expectations.
