Interview Script·45 min·10 questions
Discovering why support tool customers cancel despite initially choosing your solution
You're seeing cancelled customers cite 'cost' or 'missing features' in exit surveys, but these explanations feel incomplete. Teams that actively selected your support tool over competitors are walking away, yet the generic reasons don't explain why they stayed committed through onboarding only to leave months later.
Why standard questions fail here
Direct questions about cancellation reasons trigger rehearsed, socially acceptable answers that protect the customer's decision-making reputation. This script reconstructs the timeline leading to cancellation, anchoring in specific moments when the tool stopped solving real problems, revealing the gap between stated reasons and the actual breakdown in value delivery.
Sample Questions
Grounded in The Mom Test and Jobs-to-be-Done.
Jobs-to-be-Done: establish context for the job they were trying to accomplish
Use active listening and mirror back key points to build rapport. Let them talk without interrupting.
- What does a busy support day look like for your team?
- How many people are typically involved in support decisions?
- Generic role descriptions - probe for specific daily tasks and pain points
JTBD hiring moment analysis: understand the struggling moment and forces that led to the original purchase
Use the timeline technique: get them to narrate chronologically from struggle to solution. Ask 'what happened next?' to keep the story moving.
- What was the final straw that made you say 'we need to find something'?
- Who else was involved in that decision?
- What were you using before, and why wasn't it working?
- Skipping to features or rational justifications instead of the emotional struggling moment
JTBD: identify the forces present at moment of purchase to contrast with firing forces
Dig into the specific moment of decision using the laddering technique - ask 'what made that the deciding factor?' multiple times.
- What were your biggest concerns about making that choice?
- What convinced you it was the right move?
- What would have happened if you hadn't found a solution?
- Rational feature comparisons instead of emotional drivers and anxieties
Mom Test principle: focus on specific past experiences rather than generic opinions about value
Push for concrete story with specific details - who, what, when, where. Avoid letting them generalize.
- What specifically happened that day?
- How did it feel when that worked smoothly?
- What would have happened without the tool in that situation?
- Generic statements like 'it was helpful' without specific scenarios
Social proof validation: understand peak satisfaction from team perspective
Ask for direct quotes or specific conversations they remember hearing.
- Can you remember a specific comment someone made?
- Who was the biggest champion of the tool on your team?
- Hypothetical team sentiment instead of actual conversations they witnessed
JTBD firing forces: identify the initial struggling moment that began the firing process
Use the critical incident technique - get them to recount one specific moment in detail, including emotions and context.
- What was different about that situation?
- How did that make you feel?
- What did you do right after that happened?
- Jumping to rational reasons instead of the emotional turning point
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