Customer Discovery Interview Script¶

Target: Ops managers, chief pilots, dispatchers at European Part-CAT operators (1-5 aircraft) Goal: Validate that weather briefing compliance is a real pain point worth solving Approach: The Mom Test — ask about their life, not your idea. No pitching. Duration: 20-30 minutes Language: Spanish (Spain-first), English (rest of Europe)

Pre-Interview Checklist¶

• [ ] Research the operator: fleet size, aircraft types, bases, AOC type
• [ ] Check their website/LinkedIn for ops staff names
• [ ] Prepare 1-2 company-specific questions
• [ ] Have note-taking ready (not recording unless they consent)
• [ ] Know their name, title, and how long they've been in the role

Opening (2 minutes)¶

"Thanks for taking the time. I'm researching how small operators handle weather briefings and documentation — I'm trying to understand the real workflow before building anything. I'm not selling anything today. I just want to learn from your experience."

Spanish version:

"Gracias por sacar el tiempo. Estoy investigando como los operadores pequenos gestionan los briefings meteorologicos y la documentacion — quiero entender el flujo de trabajo real antes de construir nada. No estoy vendiendo nada hoy. Solo quiero aprender de tu experiencia."

Section 1: Current Workflow (10 minutes)¶

These questions map their existing process. Listen for pain, don't suggest it.

1.1 Daily Operations¶

Q1: "Walk me through what happens when you have a flight tomorrow morning. What's the weather preparation process from start to finish?"

Probes if they don't mention: - Who does it? (Pilot, dispatcher, ops manager?) - When do they start? (Night before, morning of?) - How long does it take?

Q2: "What sources do you check for weather? Can you list them?"

Listen for: - AviationWeather.gov, national met services (AEMET, MeteoFrance, DWD) - SkyDemon, ForeFlight, RocketRoute - EUROCONTROL EAD - Manual web browsing vs. integrated tools

Q3: "How do you handle routes that cross multiple countries? Say Madrid to Geneva — how does that change the weather briefing?"

Listen for: - Multi-source aggregation pain - Language barriers (French SIGMETs, German AIRMETs) - FIR-by-FIR checking

Q4: "How much time would you say you spend on weather briefing per flight? Including all the checking, compiling, documenting."

Get a number. Even a rough one. This is your ROI metric.

1.2 Documentation & Compliance¶

Q5: "After you've reviewed the weather, what do you do with it? How do you store the briefing?"

Listen for: - Screenshots, PDFs, printouts - Email chains - Dedicated software - Nothing at all (risk!)

Q6: "When was your last AESA/CAA audit? What did they ask for regarding weather documentation?"

Listen for: - Panic / scrambling to find records - Confidence / organized system - Whether they've ever had a finding

Q7: "How confident are you that if an auditor asked for the weather briefing from a flight 10 months ago, you could find it within 5 minutes?"

This is the killer question. Listen carefully to the answer and body language.

Q8: "Have you ever had a compliance finding or near-miss related to weather documentation?"

1.3 Tools & Spending¶

Q9: "What software do you use for flight operations today? Walk me through your tech stack."

Listen for: - FL3XX, Leon, CAMP, Centrik, PPS - ForeFlight, SkyDemon, Jeppesen - Excel, Google Sheets, paper - Nothing (opportunity!)

Q10: "Roughly how much do you spend per month on operations software? All tools combined."

Don't push if they're uncomfortable. Even a range helps.

Section 2: Pain Points (8 minutes)¶

2.1 Problem Severity¶

Q11: "What's the most frustrating part of your pre-flight weather process?"

Let them talk. Don't suggest answers. Silence is your friend.

Q12: "If you could change one thing about how you handle weather briefings, what would it be?"

Q13: "Have you ever missed something in a weather briefing that you caught later? What happened?"

Safety question — tread carefully. They might not want to share. That's OK.

2.2 Change Readiness¶

Q14: "Have you looked for better tools for weather briefing? What did you try?"

Listen for: - Actively searched = high pain - Never looked = low pain or not decision-maker - Tried and rejected something = learn why

Q15: "What would a tool need to do for you to consider switching from your current process?"

This tells you their must-have features. Don't prompt — let them define it.

Q16: "If a tool automated your weather briefing and stored it for 12 months with audit-ready documentation, what would that be worth to you per month?"

Only ask this after they've described their pain. Don't anchor with a price.

Section 3: Decision Making (5 minutes)¶

Q17: "Who decides on new tools at your company? Is it you, the chief pilot, the owner?"

Q18: "What's your typical process for evaluating new software? Do you need a trial period?"

Q19: "Is there a budget for operations tools, or does it come from a general fund?"

Closing (3 minutes)¶

Q20: "Is there anything I didn't ask that you think I should know about how small operators handle weather?"

Q21: "Is there anyone else I should talk to? A dispatcher, a pilot, or someone at another operator?"

Always ask for introductions. This is how you get from 1 to 20 interviews.

"This has been incredibly helpful. I really appreciate your time. I may follow up in a few weeks if I have more questions — would that be OK?"

Post-Interview Template¶

Fill this out within 1 hour of every interview:

## Interview: [Name] — [Company]
**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Role:** [Title]
**Fleet:** [# aircraft, types]
**Base:** [ICAO code]
**Duration:** [X minutes]

### Key Findings
1. [Most important insight]
2. [Second insight]
3. [Third insight]

### Current Workflow
- Weather sources used: 
- Time per briefing: 
- Documentation method: 
- Tools used: 

### Pain Points (ranked by intensity)
1. [Highest pain]
2. 
3. 

### Willingness to Pay
- [ ] Mentioned budget
- [ ] Gave a number: €___/month
- [ ] Said "I'd pay for that" (about what?)
- [ ] Showed no interest in paying

### Compliance Status
- Last audit: 
- Any findings: 
- Confidence in records: [1-5 scale]

### Quotes (Verbatim)
> "[Exact words that capture a key insight]"

### Referrals
- [Name, company, contact — did they offer intro?]

### My Takeaways
- [What did I learn that surprised me?]
- [Does this validate or invalidate my hypothesis?]
- [What should I ask differently next time?]

Hypothesis Tracker¶

Track across all interviews to see patterns:

Decision Point: After 10 interviews, if 7+ validate the compliance pain, proceed to build. If fewer than 5 validate, pivot the value proposition.

Spanish Version — Key Questions¶

For quick reference during Spanish-language interviews:

1. "Describeme el proceso cuando teneis un vuelo manana por la manana. Desde el principio hasta el final, como preparais la meteorologia?"
2. "Que fuentes consultais para la meteorologia? Listame todas."
3. "Como gestionais las rutas que cruzan varios paises?"
4. "Cuanto tiempo dedicais al briefing meteorologico por vuelo?"
5. "Despues de revisar la meteorologia, como la guardais?"
6. "Cuando fue vuestra ultima inspeccion de AESA? Que os pidieron sobre documentacion meteorologica?"
7. "Si un inspector os pidiera el briefing meteorologico de un vuelo de hace 10 meses, lo encontrariais en 5 minutos?"
8. "Habeis tenido alguna vez un hallazgo o casi-hallazgo de cumplimiento relacionado con la documentacion meteorologica?"
9. "Que software usais para las operaciones de vuelo?"
10. "Que es lo mas frustrante de vuestro proceso de meteorologia pre-vuelo?"
11. "Si pudierais cambiar una cosa de como gestionais los briefings meteorologicos, que seria?"
12. "Si una herramienta automatizara vuestro briefing y lo almacenara 12 meses con documentacion lista para auditoria, cuanto valdria eso al mes?"
13. "Quien decide sobre nuevas herramientas en vuestra empresa?"
14. "Hay alguien mas con quien deberia hablar?"

Interview Targets (Priority Order)¶

Tier 1: Warm Leads (Have Contact Info)¶

Tier 2: Cold Outreach (Spanish Operators)¶

Tier 3: Pan-European (Active in Spain)¶

Related¶

• Outreach Templates — Message templates for initial contact
• European Contacts — Full contact database
• Go-To-Market Strategy — Overall GTM plan
• Market Analysis — Market sizing and target profile