The 5 Things Your Customers Wish You Would Just Ask Them

3 min. read

Updated March 24, 2026

Steal this: a market research survey that actually works

I know, market research sounds like something you need a big budget, an MBA and a strategy consultant to do. In reality, much of “market research” is just talking to potential customers—learning what they do today to solve their problem, what they hate about it, what they want from a better solution, and what they’d be willing to pay.

And the easiest way to start that conversation with potential customers—especially when you’re busy—is a simple survey.

A short survey gives you real market research:

It forces you to define who you’re targeting
It shows you what people actually do today to solve their problem (your real competition)
It helps you spot patterns you can use in your plan, pitch, and forecast

Below is a survey you can copy, along with the 5 must-askquestions that give you the most signal, fast.

Before you write questions: pick ONE goal

Market research gets messy when it doesn’t have a clear objective. Pick one:

Demand: Is this a real, painful problem people want solved?
Positioning: Which benefits matter most when choosing a solution?
Competition: What are they using today (and why)?
Pricing: What would they realistically pay?

(You can do more later—your first survey should be quick.)

The 5 must-ask questions (copy/paste)

Keep your survey to ~8–12 questions total. These five are the core.

1. “How often do you deal with [problem / need]?”

Response type: Multiple choice (Daily / Weekly / Monthly / Rarely / Never)
Why it matters: Frequency is one of the best signals of real demand.

2. “How are you solving this today?”

Response type: Multiple choice + “Other (please specify)”
Why it matters: This reveals your real competitors (including workarounds and “do nothing”).

3. “What’s most important when choosing a solution?”

Response type: Rank order OR pick top 3 (Price, speed, quality, convenience, trust, support, etc.)
Why it matters: This tells you what to build and what to lead with.

4. “What frustrates you about the current options?”

Response type: Open-ended (one text box)
Why it matters: This is where you find positioning gold—people describe gaps you can own.

5. “If a solution did [your promised outcome], what would you expect to pay?”

Response type: Multiple choice ranges (or “too low / just right / too high” style)
Why it matters: Pricing + value perception feeds directly into your plan assumptions.

3 rules that make surveys work (and keep bias out)

Make it easy: Short, clear, and fast to finish—everyone hates long, drawn-out surveys
Avoid leading words: Don’t ask “How helpful would it be if…?” Ask what they do today and what they’d choose.
Pilot it: Send it to 3–5 people first and see what they misunderstand.

Use AI as a survey assistant (not the source of truth)

AI can help you brainstorm answer choices, tighten wording, and spot bias. But your real market research comes from real people, not AI.

Try prompts like:

“Rewrite these survey questions to remove leading language and make them neutral.”
“Create multiple-choice answer options for this question (include ‘Other’).”
“Turn these interview notes into 5 survey questions.”

A good survey doesn’t just collect opinions—it makes your market analysis easier to write: who your customers are, what they value, what they use today, and what they’ll pay.

And if you want help organizing all of this into a business plan, LivePlan includes guided sections (plus built-in market research) so you can go from “raw answers” to “plan-ready insights” faster.

Write a winning business plan in under an hour.

Sabrina Parsons

Sabrina has served as CEO of Palo Alto Software since 2007. She and her husband, Noah, founded a UK software distribution company in 2001 that was acquired by Palo Alto Software in 2002. Sabrina is a successful Internet expert, having served as Director of Online Marketing at Commtouch, Senior Producer at Epinions, and founder of her own Web consulting company, Lighting Out.