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How to combine expert calls with customer interviews

A five-step sequence that uses each source for what it is good at

Process of five steps to combine expert network calls and customer interviews: map with experts, write questions, interview buyers, compare, follow up.
Experts build the map. Buyers tell you whether it is true
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A five-step process for using expert network calls and customer interviews together on a market-entry or diligence question. Start with a handful of expert calls to learn the category, turn that into a question set, interview 30 to 50 real buyers, compare their answers with the expert consensus, then take the contradictions back to experts. Koji runs the buyer interviews in parallel with automatic thematic coding, so step four is ready when fielding closes.

Where this appears

What's in this process

  1. Build the map with experts: Five to eight calls to learn the category structure, vocabulary, economics and players.
  2. Turn it into a question set: Expert calls tell you what to ask. They do not tell you what is true of your buyers.
  3. Go to the demand side at volume: Run 30 to 50 interviews with real buyers, with structured questions where you need comparability.
  4. Code and compare: Thematic analysis shows where buyers contradict the expert consensus. Those gaps are often the most valuable output.
  5. Return to experts on the anomalies: Spend the expensive hour on a sharp question, not an orientation session.

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<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/combine-expert-calls-and-customer-interviews-process">How to combine expert calls with customer interviews</a>, Koji</p>

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