01 · No-Decision  —  Never came

No-Decision (Status Quo) Interviews

Why people who have the struggle still chose to stay put — and what would have to change for them to act. In B2B this is usually your largest competitor.

Best for

  • Demand generation
  • Messaging & positioning
  • Market barriers
  • Prioritise objections

Reveals

  • What made staying acceptable
  • Unaddressed anxieties
  • Barriers to entry
  • Objections worth answering
01OpenSet up and build safety02Explore the Status QuoGet the story in their words03Probe the Barriers to ChangeTest what drove the decision04Close — Find the TriggerConfirm and play it back

A no-decision interview is a jobs-to-be-done interview with someone who had the struggle, evaluated options, and then chose to do nothing. It reconstructs why staying put stayed acceptable — the habits, anxieties and constraints that made change feel worse than the status quo. In B2B, no-decision is usually the largest competitor in the category, and it is the one competitor that never appears in a win/loss report. This guide is a pool of 23 questions across four phases; 13 are marked core, which is about what fits in a 45-minute interview.

Last updated 2026-08-03John Gusiff, Customer Centric Solutions LLC13 core questions freeFull guide from $19

How to read this guide. These are 23 questions to choose from, not a script to complete. A jobs-to-be-done question is a question plus follow-ups, plus silence — roughly three to four minutes each. Plan on 12–14 primary questions in 45 minutes, 16–18 in 60, 20–22 in 75. The 13 marked core are the ones to ask in almost every interview; the rest are there when the story goes that way. Each question shows what it is designed to surface and the colour-coded element of progress it belongs to. Green is what pulls a person forward, red is what pushes or holds them back — in a no-decision interview those two carry most of the weight, because inertia is the thing you are explaining.
  • General
  • Events & Timeline
  • Pushes
  • Pulls
  • Desires
  • Avoidances
  • Habits
  • Anxieties
  • Solutions
  • Constraints
  • Experiences (gain / pain)
Phase 01

Open

Ask 2 of 3  ·  ~5 min

No-decision interviews require the most trust-building. People rarely admit inertia openly. Normalise it.

  1. 01

    Share only what you are comfortable sharing.

    Critical — prospects need to know it's safe to say "I just didn't want to change."

    GeneralCore
  2. 02

    Imagine that I am filming a documentary.

    Documentary framing removes judgment and invites honest reflection on why they stayed put.

    GeneralCore

  3. 1 more question in this phase

    These extend the phase when the story goes that way. They are part of the full guide.

    See what is included
Phase 02

Explore the Status Quo

Ask 5 of 9  ·  ~16 min

Establish the progress they wanted, then what was good enough about staying — the pull of the status quo.

  1. 04

    What were you hoping a solution would enable you to do?

    Establishes the functional job before you ask why they stayed — without it you cannot tell a blocked job from no job at all.

    Customer JTBDNot about ProductCore
  2. 06

    In what ways would solving this have made you better at what you do?

    The aspirational job — often the real motivator, and the one that survives a stalled purchase.

    Customer JTBDAspirationalCore
  3. 09

    What did you do or use to solve this need before?

    What they're currently using reveals the competition you're actually up against.

    HabitsCore
  4. 10

    Were you solving a problem or improving your life?

    Are they satisfied or just not in enough pain? Reveals whether the job is active.

    DesiresPleasure vs. PainCore
  5. 12

    When did you realize "it can't go on like this"?

    Have they ever reached "it can't go on like this"? If not, the job isn't urgent yet.

    Events & TimelineCore

  6. 4 more questions in this phase

    These extend the phase when the story goes that way. They are part of the full guide.

    See what is included
Phase 03

Probe the Barriers to Change

Ask 4 of 6  ·  ~15 min

Uncover what makes switching feel too risky, too hard, or not worth it.

  1. 13

    What made breaking the old habit so difficult?

    What makes breaking the current habit feel difficult — this is inertia made concrete.

    HabitsCore
  2. 15

    Any concerns that kept you from choosing other solutions you evaluated?

    Concerns about alternatives they considered — the anxiety keeping them from switching.

    AnxietiesCore
  3. 17

    What did you want to avoid at all costs (in a new situation)?

    What they want to avoid at all costs — their primary risk filter.

    AvoidancesCore
  4. 18

    How much time did you have to make a purchase?

    Time pressure (or lack of it) is a key status quo force — urgency drives decisions.

    ConstraintsCore

  5. 2 more questions in this phase

    These extend the phase when the story goes that way. They are part of the full guide.

    See what is included
Phase 04

Close — Find the Trigger

Ask 2 of 5  ·  ~9 min

Identify what would need to change — in their life, business, or your product — for them to act.

  1. 21

    What was the moment you decided, there has to be a better way?

    Have they had a "there must be a better way" moment? If yes, what stopped them acting?

    Events & TimelineCore
  2. 23

    Let me playback your story. Correct me if I get it wrong.

    Play back your understanding of why they stayed — confirm the real barrier.

    GeneralCore

  3. 3 more questions in this phase

    These extend the phase when the story goes that way. They are part of the full guide.

    See what is included
Full guide

10 more questions, and the interviews that show how to use them

The 13 core questions above are free and stay free. The rest of the pool extends each phase when the conversation goes that way. The example interviews show a real conversation built on these questions, with the probing follow-ups that actually surface the answer.

Coming soon $29 This guide + example interviews All 23 questions, plus annotated example interviews with the probing follow-ups.
Coming soon $129 All six guides + example interviews Everything, including example interviews for all six. Save $45.

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Running the study

The questions are the easy part.

Getting the right people in the room, and coding what they tell you into a demand map — forces sorted, context separated, the consideration set reconstructed — is where the judgment lives.

Two methods

AI-moderated interviews when you need reach across a larger sample at lower cost per conversation. 1:1 expert interviews when you need the deepest read on a small number of people. Both talk to real participants; often the right study uses both.

Two engagement modes

Fully managed — we handle everything from recruitment through to the findings report. Hybrid — we work as part of your team, side by side: guiding the design, running interviews jointly, and presenting findings together.

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