Buyer research plan with survey

• Picks who to ask. Buyers, repeat buyers, people who left, and non-buyers on your list are asked separately.
• Sizes the calls. About 20 calls of 30 minutes, or five if your list is small. The 97 percent claim behind 20 is second-hand, so it is labelled a rule of thumb.
• Writes the invite. It says the call is to learn, gives the length and states the reward, such as a free item, early access or a donation.
• Builds the call guide. Open questions about why they use it, how they found it, the whole path from first hearing about it and how it felt.
• Writes the survey. Four or five open, written questions, such as the main reason they bought and what held them back, sent after the calls.
• Rewards everyone. A prize entry plus a small guaranteed credit, costed, with a reminder to check local prize rules.
• Adds audience tools. Tools that show where buyers spend time and what topics they discuss, as examples to try.
• Sorts the answers. Reasons they bought, reasons they did not, product requests, grouped by the job the buyer is hiring the product for.

• Start a chat with the skill. Open it if you added it to your AI, or copy it and paste it in.
• Tell it what you sell, how many buyers and non-buyers you have, and your reward budget.
• Read the plan and edit the email so it sounds like you. Check that you will ask permission before recording a call.
• Send the calls first. Once you have heard a few, send the survey to buyers and non-buyers as two lists.
• Paste the answers back and ask it to sort them with the reading template.

This is an example, not work made from your details.

WHO TO ASK
Buyers: <n> | Left or lapsed: <n> | Non-buyers: <n>

CALL PLAN (about 20 x 30 minutes; small version: 5)
Week 1: <...>  Week 2: <...>  Call guide: <questions>

RECRUITING EMAIL
Subject: <...>
<body: to learn, not a pitch; 30 minutes; the reward>

REWARD AND COST
<reward> x <people> = <cost> | total <...>

SURVEY (buyers and non-buyers): 4 to 5 open questions each

READING TEMPLATE
Reasons they bought: <theme> | count | quote
Reasons they did not: <theme> | count | quote
Product requests: <item> | count
Group by job to be done: <...>

TOOLS (examples): <audience tool>, <social listening tool>
RULES: consent noted | prize rules checked
NEXT: <one step>
CHECKS MISSED: <none | list>

• The email says it is to learn and not to sell, and states length and reward.
• Every survey question is open and written.
• Buyers and non-buyers have their own questions and their own send.
• The reward is costed and any prize draw has a rules reminder.
• The 97 percent figure, if present, is labelled a rule of thumb.
• The reading template has both piles, reasons bought and reasons not.

• List size. With fewer than a few hundred on the list, run the calls and skip the survey. A small survey gives noise.
• The reward. Match it to your margin. A free item, early access or a donation costs less than cash. The source examples (a $1,000 giveaway, about $30 credit) are examples only.
• Who you invite. Include customers who left as well as fans. People who stopped buying tell you the most about what is wrong.
• Survey wording. Keep the questions written and open. Ask what the main reason was, not whether price mattered.
• What happens next. Say if you will turn answers into ad angles, an offer or a product idea. The plan then points the reading template at that goal.

• Add your real reward options and limits to the skill file so the cost line is always right.
• Add your product's main objections as follow-up questions for the call guide.
• Add a consent line and a data note to the email that match your privacy policy.
• Save the reading template results to your brand file, with a date.
• Pair it with the Buyer identity segment finder to turn the identity answers into groups, and with the Forum and review avatar digger for the same questions asked of strangers.

• Job to be done: The progress a buyer is trying to make when they buy. Grouping answers by it is more useful than grouping by age.
• Social listening: Tracking what people post about a topic across social sites, to see their frustrations and questions.
• Non-buyer: Someone on your email list who has not bought yet.

Buyer research plan with survey

You plan buyer research for a store that already has people to ask: a call plan, a recruiting email, a short written survey, and a way to read the answers. The calls come first and the survey confirms what the calls found. You do not invent answers. You write the plan and the tools, and the person runs them.

Before you start

This skill runs on its own. What's below makes the result better, but none of it is required.

Works best with (or they can paste their own instead):

• Your question (yours): the decision or problem, and what a good outcome looks like.

Makes it better (optional):

• Customer words (yours): reviews, testimonials, support tickets, survey answers or call transcripts. Export them or paste them in.

How to start:

1. Look first. Use what they've already attached, pasted or put in their about-me note. In Claude Code, look in the project too for these by name.
2. If something is missing, advise, don't block. In one short message, say this skill works on its own and will be better with your question, customer words. They can attach them, paste them, or say where they are (in Claude Code, a file path). Then ask: "Add them, or shall I go ahead with what you've given me?" If their message already says to go ahead, skip this and start.
3. When they say go ahead, do the whole job with what you have. Mark each gap with MISSING: where it belongs and never invent a fact to fill it. Keep the answer tight: say each point once, merge steps that give the same thing, and aim for under 700 words unless the job truly needs more. In CHECKS MISSED, name only the checks that failed, or write “none”.

Tools that do this best:

• SparkToro: Shows where an audience spends time and which sources influence it. Use it to choose where to look next.
• Brand24: Social listening that tracks topics and frustrations people post about, not only mentions of your brand.
• Google Forms: A free way to send the written survey and collect answers in a sheet.
• Any good chat AI: Writes the plan and email, and sorts the answers you paste in.

What you need

• Customer list (required): buyers, and non-buyers if you have them (people on your email list who have not bought). Say roughly how many of each.
• Product and buyer type (required): what you sell and who buys it.
• Reward budget (required): what you can spend. A free item, early access to a new product, a store credit, or a donation to a charity of their choice.
• Brand facts (optional): your voice and what you can offer.

Does not fit: a new store with no buyers or list. Start with public forums and reviews first (the Forum and review avatar digger). It also does not fit a list too small to give useful answers; in that case, run only the calls. Rewards, credits and prizes are a real cost, so cost the plan before you send anything.

The general Customer discovery interview planner plans customer talks to test a business idea. This store version adds buyer calls, rewards, a survey for non-buyers, and counting requests for new products.

Steps

1. Decide who to ask. Make two lists: recent buyers, repeat buyers, and people who left or stopped buying; and non-buyers on your list. Ask buyers who left why they left.
2. Size the calls. Plan about 20 calls of 30 minutes. A guest on one podcast said a quoted study by large research firms shows 20 conversations reach about 97 percent of the sentiment in an audience. That is second-hand. Treat it as a rule of thumb and check it before quoting it. The small version: pick your top five customers, hold five calls of 30 minutes, and put the transcripts in one AI project. Ask the person to get permission before recording or transcribing.
3. Write the recruiting email. Say it is to learn, not a demo or a pitch. Say how long it takes (30 minutes). Say what they get. Rewards that worked in the sources: a free item, beta access, or a donation to a charity of their choice. One researcher paid about $30 for 30 minutes for hard-to-reach people. Cost every reward.
4. Write the call guide. Open questions only. Ask why they use it, how they found it, the whole path from first hearing about it to now, and how it felt. Do not pitch, defend or solve their problems. Ask people who left why they left.
5. Build the survey after the calls. Use it to confirm what the calls found at larger scale, and for easy facts such as role or household size. Write four or five open-ended, written questions, not tick boxes. Examples:
   • What was the main reason you bought this product?
   • What held you back?
   • What would you want from us next? For non-buyers, change the wording to: what was the main reason you did not buy?
6. Set a reward that makes everyone a winner. The source's example: entry into a larger giveaway (a $1,000 gift card) plus a guaranteed small credit (about $30 off a $100 spend) for everyone who answers. That raises the response because nobody leaves with nothing. Both numbers are the source's example, so set your own to fit your margin. Prize draws have legal rules that differ by place, so check local rules before you run one.
7. Send buyers and non-buyers separately, with their own wording.
8. Use audience tools for the rest. To see where they spend time and who influences them, use an audience research tool such as SparkToro. For topics being talked about, use social listening (Brand24 is an example). Look for the topics and frustrations, not mentions of your brand. Tool names are examples.
9. Write the reading template. Sort answers into two piles: reasons they bought, and reasons they did not (for example price, doubt it works, shipping). Group results by the job the buyer is hiring the product for, not by age or job title.
10. Use the answers. For ad angles, offers and product ideas. If many people ask for the same item (the source's example is creatine gummies), consider it for a launch, and check the demand before you order stock.
11. Do not over-read email tests. Offers you test by email go to people who already know you. They are not proof of how cold traffic will respond. Survey answers help shape cold-traffic tests but do not replace them.
12. Make it a habit. Keep calling and messaging buyers. One source says a nine-figure store still has the whole team do it.

What you hand back

Use these labels in this order:

WHO TO ASK
Buyers: <how many> | Left or lapsed: <how many> | Non-buyers: <how many>

CALL PLAN  (about 20 calls x 30 minutes; small version: 5)
Week 1: <...>  Week 2: <...>
Call guide: <questions>

RECRUITING EMAIL
Subject: <...>
<body: learning not a pitch, 30 minutes, the reward>

REWARD AND COST
<reward> x <people> = <cost> | giveaway: <...> | credit: <...> | total: <...>

SURVEY (buyers)
1. <open question> ... (4 to 5)
SURVEY (non-buyers)
1. <open question> ...

READING TEMPLATE
Reasons they bought: <theme> | count | quote
Reasons they did not: <theme> | count | quote
Product requests: <item> | count
Group by job to be done: <...>

TOOLS (examples): <audience tool>, <social listening tool>
RULES: consent noted | prize rules checked | list-use rules checked
NEXT: <one step>
CHECKS MISSED: <none | list>

After this

When you've handed it back, suggest what they could do next in one short question. It's a suggestion: if they're done, that's fine. Offer these, and say they can type their own:

• Understand your buyers with the Customer discovery interview planner. It takes the plan.
• Set up AI to work for you with the AI workflow handoff planner. It takes the plan.
• The Factory price-break negotiator. It takes the plan and document.
• Make an offer people want with the Lead cost and friction planner. It takes the plan.
• Plan what to test with the Reach-before-repeat planner. It takes the plan. If they pick one and that skill is added here, carry straight on with what you just made. If not, give the link and say what to bring.

Checks

• The email says it is to learn and not to sell, gives the length, and states the reward.
• Every survey question is open and written, not tick-box.
• The reward is costed. The 97 percent figure, if used, is labelled a rule of thumb.
• The survey goes to buyers and non-buyers separately.
• The reading template has both piles and a job-to-be-done grouping.
• A line reminds the owner to get consent to record, to follow email and prize rules where they sell, and to keep answers private.
• Health, money and legal claims noticed in answers are flagged for the owner to check with a qualified person.

If something is missing

• No list: MISSING: customer list. Say to start with forums and reviews.
• No reward budget: MISSING: reward budget; offer a no-cost version (early access, a thank-you note) and say response may be lower.
• No product description: MISSING: product and buyer type.

Avoid

• Pitching on the call.
• Tick-box surveys that only confirm what you guessed.
• Treating survey answers or email tests as proof of cold-traffic results.
• Running a prize draw without checking local rules.
• Quoting the 97 percent figure as a measured fact.
• Reporting answers with names or details that could identify a person.