Interview Script·45 min·11 questions
Understanding why motivated gym members cancel after surviving January's initial commitment phase
You're seeing people who made it past the typical New Year's resolution dropout period — they stuck with their gym membership through January when most people quit. Yet somehow these committed individuals still cancelled later in the year. The timing doesn't match the usual pattern of quick abandonment, and you need to understand what specific gaps between expectation and reality drove away people who initially showed real staying power.
Why standard questions fail here
Direct questions about 'why did you cancel' often get surface-level answers about time or money that miss the deeper expectation mismatches. This script works backward from the actual cancellation moment to reconstruct their membership timeline, anchoring in specific experiences and unmet expectations they discovered along the way. By walking through their journey chronologically, you'll uncover the precise gaps between what they thought gym membership would deliver versus their lived reality.
Sample Questions
Grounded in The Mom Test and Jobs-to-be-Done.
Critical Incident Technique: establish baseline context before the experience being studied
Use active listening and avoid jumping to gym-specific topics too quickly. Let them set the scene naturally.
- What were you doing for exercise before this gym?
- What prompted you to consider a gym membership at that time?
- Generic statements about 'wanting to be healthier' without specific context
Mom Test principle: focus on specific past events rather than general motivations
Listen for the triggering event or 'struggling moment' - probe for the specific day/week they made the decision
- What day of the week was this? What had just happened?
- Who else was involved in this decision?
- What other options did you consider?
- Vague resolutions like 'wanted to get fit' without specific context or timing
Jobs-to-be-Done: understand the 'job' they hired the gym to do in their life
Ask for specifics: days, times, activities, duration. Paint the picture of their expected routine.
- How many days per week were you planning to go?
- What time of day did you plan to work out?
- What types of workouts were you most excited about?
- Unrealistic expectations they admit were unrealistic - focus on what felt realistic to them then
Critical Incident Technique: detailed reconstruction of a specific pivotal moment
Use the 'slow motion' technique - ask them to replay it like a movie, including emotions and physical sensations
- How did you feel walking in? What did you notice first?
- What went differently than you expected?
- How long did you stay? What made you decide to leave?
- Overly positive recollections that avoid mentioning any difficulties or awkwardness
Mom Test principle: focus on actual behavior rather than intentions or plans
Ask for specifics for each day of a particular week they remember - use calendar anchoring if needed
- Pick one specific week you remember - maybe week 2 or 3. What did Monday look like?
- What was different from what you had planned?
- What surprised you most about the reality of going to the gym?
- Idealized versions of what they 'usually' did rather than specific weeks
JTBD: uncover unexpected friction points in the job the gym was hired to do
Probe for specific examples and stories, not general complaints. Use 'tell me about a time when...'
- Can you give me a specific example of when this was a problem?
- How did you try to work around this issue?
- Did you talk to anyone else about this problem?
- Generic complaints about equipment or crowding without specific incidents
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