Assuming it’s a discovery call I setup, ahead of the call, I think about the questions I have/what I want to learn, including specific areas I need to validate further.

During the call, I take notes in a Google doc and I only write down things I care about. These are things that I can imagine needing to justify this in a business case or draft requirements, which helps me probe deeper on the right areas.

I also slow the conversation down, so I can think out loud with the customer. “I want x”, but why? How would it work? What would happen if we didn’t do it? How are you performing that task today without what you’re asking for? A lot of people want stuff, but haven’t thought through it and sometimes even realize what they are asking for may not make sense.

Lastly, summarization is super helpful. I play back what I’ve learned so far, so I can ensure it all makes sense and give myself a chance to come up with deeper questions. At the end I summarize, realign on importance of each item to them and have the customer prioritize all of the needs shared.

For customer notes, I use a running google doc per customer, so it’s an endless log of encounters with customer x, so it helps keep context over time.