Reference table
Who to pay for a customer interview, and what to offer
A one-page answer to the question founders ask when cold outreach stalls: should I pay this person to talk to me? It lists eight kinds of interviewee, from friends and design partners to churned users, busy professionals and enterprise buyers, with whether to pay and what to offer each. Use it before you write an invitation. Koji can pay approved participants a gift card, prepaid card or charity donation at the end of an interview.
Where this appears
What's in this reference table
| Who you are talking to | Pay them? | What to offer |
|---|---|---|
| Friends, peers, warm intros | No | A summary of what you learned |
| Design partners, prospects in a live deal | No cash | Early access, a direct line to you, a say in what you build |
| Your active customers | Usually not | A small thank-you or account credit for longer calls |
| Cold strangers who pass your screener | Yes, after the call | Roughly the going hourly rate for the time you ask |
| Busy professionals | Yes | Professional rates, or a charity donation if they cannot accept gifts |
| Churned users and lost deals | Almost always | A clear thank-you, paid whatever they say |
| Enterprise buyers, public-sector staff | Check their rules first | A donation where allowed, or nothing |
| People from a research panel | No, the panel pays | Nothing extra on top of the panel fee |
Use this image
Free to use in your docs, decks and posts under CC BY 4.0, as long as you credit Koji with a link to this page. To embed it, paste this into your page:
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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/who-to-pay-for-customer-interviews-table"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/who-to-pay-for-customer-interviews-table/who-to-pay-for-customer-interviews-table.png" alt="Table of whether to pay eight kinds of interviewee, from friends and design partners to churned users and enterprise buyers, and what to offer" width="1200" height="1010" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/who-to-pay-for-customer-interviews-table">Who to pay for a customer interview, and what to offer</a>, Koji</p>
