with a little help from AI
Find out what
your customers
really want
Two prompts that turn AI into your customer, so you can ask them anything. Twenty minutes, and you'll know who you're talking to.
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Go to part oneA lot of marketing problems are really customer problems.
When you know what your customer is thinking, the right words come naturally. This exercise uses AI as a thinking tool. Not to write your marketing for you, but to ask the questions you probably haven't asked yourself yet.
Answer honestly. Be specific. That's the whole trick.
here's the plan
How it works
- 01
Build your customer
Answer ten questions and AI turns your answers into a customer persona.
- 02
Talk to them
Start a fresh chat where AI plays that customer. Ask them anything.
- 03
Type DEBRIEF
Get their pain points, needs and what makes them buy, ready to use.
Build your customer persona
Open Claude, ChatGPT or whichever AI tool you use. Paste the prompt below exactly as it is, then answer each question honestly. Not sure? Give your best guess and say so, and the AI will help you narrow it down. The temptation is to give the "right" answer rather than the true one. Resist it.
I want you to help me build a detailed customer persona for my business. Ask me the following questions one at a time, waiting for my answer before moving to the next. If I say I'm not sure or give a vague answer, ask me one or two follow-up questions to help me narrow it down. Don't move on until we've got something useful. 1. What does your business sell, and who is it for? 2. What age range and life stage is your typical customer? (e.g. young professional, new parent, retiree) 3. What is their job or daily routine like? 4. What problem or frustration drives them to look for what you offer? 5. What has stopped them from solving this problem before now? 6. Where do they spend time online and offline? 7. What do they value most when choosing a product or service like yours? (e.g. price, quality, speed, trust, status) 8. Who or what influences their decisions? (e.g. friends, reviews, social media, professionals) 9. What would make them hesitate or say no to buying from you? 10. If they were recommending you to a friend, what would they say? Once I have answered all ten questions, summarise my answers into a single customer persona. Where I was unsure or vague, use logic and reasonable assumptions based on what I've told you to fill in the gaps, and flag what you've assumed so I can correct anything. Give them a first name, age, job title, and a short paragraph describing their daily life, their frustrations, what they are looking for, and what matters most to them when making a buying decision.
Copy the persona somewhere safe before you move on. You'll need it for part two.
Talk to your customer
Start a fresh conversation. Paste the prompt below and swap [PASTE YOUR PERSONA HERE] for the persona from part one. Then just ask questions, the way you'd talk to a real customer over a coffee. When you're done, type DEBRIEF.
I am going to give you a customer persona. I want you to become this person. Stay in character for the entire conversation. Answer every question as this person would, using their language, their priorities, their doubts, and their emotions. Do not break character or offer marketing advice. Here is the persona: [PASTE YOUR PERSONA HERE] You are now this person. I am the business owner. I am going to ask you questions to understand you better. Wait for my first question before you respond. When I type the word DEBRIEF, step out of character and give me: - My customer's top pain points - Their needs and desires - Their purchase drivers - Any other insights that would help me market to them more effectively
Type DEBRIEF when you're done. The AI steps out of character and hands you a breakdown you can use straight away.
Questions that open things up
You won't need all of these. Pick a few that feel right and let the conversation go where it goes.
- What does a typical Tuesday look like for you?
- When did you last feel really frustrated with this problem?
- What have you already tried?
- What made you not go back to the last person you tried?
- What would make you recommend someone to a friend?
- What would make you hesitate before buying?
- What does success look like six months from now?
- If money wasn't a factor, what would you do?
What the debrief gives you
Four things you can put straight into your website, your posts and your sales conversations.
Their real frustrations, in their own words.
What they want, not just what they say they want.
What tips them from interested to committed.
Anything else worth knowing about how to reach them.
This isn't about getting AI to write your marketing. It's about knowing who you're talking to. Then your own words come easily.
found that useful?
Know what to
do next
The Small Business Instruction Manual turns what you've learned about your customer into a plan you'll stick to. Five weeks, Wednesday lunchtimes on Zoom, two of us and ten of you.