02 · Switching  —  Came in

Switching Interviews

What actually drove someone to fire what they were using and hire you instead — the trigger, the timeline, and why you won.

Best for

  • Acquisition strategy
  • Positioning & messaging
  • Competitive insights
  • Win/loss analysis

Reveals

  • Triggers that created urgency
  • Pains with prior solution
  • Decision criteria
  • Switching friction
01OpenSet up and build safety02Explore the StruggleGet the story in their words03Probe the DecisionTest what drove the decision04CloseConfirm and play it back

A switching interview reconstructs a real purchase decision backwards, from the moment of switching to the first thought that something had to change. It surfaces the push that made the old way untenable, the pull that made yours credible, the anxieties that nearly stopped the purchase, and what got fired along the way. This guide is a pool of 29 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 29 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.
  • General
  • Events & Timeline
  • Pushes
  • Pulls
  • Desires
  • Avoidances
  • Habits
  • Anxieties
  • Solutions
  • Constraints
  • Experiences (gain / pain)
Phase 01

Open

Ask 2 of 4  ·  ~5 min

Set a relaxed, documentary tone. Let them tell the full switching story without interruption.

  1. 02

    Imagine that I am filming a documentary.

    Frame yourself as curious observer, not evaluator. Reduces defensiveness.

    GeneralCore
  2. 03

    Tell me the story about buying this product. What, when, how?

    Gets the full narrative from the moment they decided to switch.

    GeneralCore

  3. 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 02

Explore the Struggle

Ask 4 of 9  ·  ~13 min

Uncover what made the old solution untenable. This is the push force driving the switch.

  1. 05

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

    Reveals what they were using before and what job it was doing.

    HabitsCore
  2. 06

    What issues or problems caused you to look for a new solution?

    Gets concrete problems that caused them to look elsewhere.

    PushesCore
  3. 08

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

    Finds the emotional tipping point — "it can't go on like this."

    Events & TimelineCore
  4. 10

    Were you solving a problem or improving your life?

    Whether they were escaping a problem or chasing an improvement. Desires appears nowhere else in this guide — skip it and a whole force goes unasked.

    DesiresPleasure vs. PainCore

  5. 5 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 Decision

Ask 5 of 10  ·  ~18 min

Understand the evaluation process, what they considered, what they fired, and why your solution won.

  1. 14

    What other solutions did you consider?

    What alternatives they seriously considered reveals your real competitive set.

    SolutionsCore
  2. 16

    What did you stop using once you bought this product/service?

    What got fired. A switching interview without this is a purchase story, not a switching story.

    SolutionsCore
  3. 17

    What did you like about the solution offered?

    What attracted them — the pull toward your solution.

    PullsCore
  4. 20

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

    Concerns about other options they didn't choose.

    AnxietiesCore
  5. 21

    What made you buy it at this particular moment?

    The final trigger that made them pull the purchase trigger.

    Events & TimelineOver the EdgeCore

  6. 5 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

Ask 2 of 6  ·  ~9 min

Name the job the product got hired for, then confirm your understanding by playing the story back.

  1. 25

    Tell me more about why this was the right solution?

    Why this was the right solution, in their words. The clearest statement of the job your product actually got hired for.

    Customer JTBDOne Product Many JobsCore
  2. 29

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

    Play back the story to validate your interpretation and catch gaps.

    GeneralCore

  3. 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
Full guide

16 more questions, and a 19-page guide to take into the room

The 13 core questions above are free and stay free. Buying unlocks the rest of the pool on this page, and a 19-page PDF that is not on this page at all.

Part one

Read before the interview

Pages 3 to 6
  • Three outcomes, not one
  • What this guide is for
  • What it reveals
  • B2B and B2C considerations
Part two

Print and write on

Pages 8 to 18, designed for printing
  • Cycle of Progress
  • Six Forces and Constraints
  • Immediately after
  • A sheet per phase, all 29 questions, with room to write
Coming soon$29This guide + example interviewsEverything above, plus annotated example interviews with the probing follow-ups.
Coming soon$129All six guides + example interviewsEverything, 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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