Conduct Interview and Focus Groups

Conduct Interview

The customer interview method allows you to gather in-depth information about the customer’s needs and wants. However, this method is time-consuming and it is not appropriate if you need to reach out to a larger audience. This method is commonly used as a precursor to a large scale survey or targeted at a few high-value customers.

Before the interview, it is important to define who are your target respondents, review your past encounters (performance and commitments) with them. Interviews can be formal or informal. Especially for formal interviews, it is good to prepare a list of questions and possible responses. The following are some tips for conducting an interview:

  1. Introduce yourself
  2. State the purpose, benefits to customer and methods used
  3. Explain how the results would be used and policies on confidentiality and privacy
  4. Start with open-ended questions and drill down to specifics
  5. Listen attentively and record conversations
  6. Collate and review results. Modify or enhance questionnaire for the next interview if necessary
  7. Analyze results
  8. Follow up with customer on results

Focus Group

Focus group discussion is similar to customer interviews. It is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their attitude towards a product, service, or idea. Focus groups are more effective if interactions among people in the group will improve the dynamics of the discussion and benefit the process overall.

The members in each group is usually carefully selected and qualified to ensure that they are part of the relevant target market and is a representative subgroup of this segment. A moderator is usually required to guide the group through a discussion to achieve its objective.

Before the discussion, it is important to define who are your target respondents, review your past encounters (performance and commitments) with them. Determine the group size (usually 6-8) and appoint a good moderator. The following are some tips for conducting an focus group discussion:

  1. Moderator introduce himself/herself
  2. State the purpose, benefits to customer and methods used
  3. Explain how the results would be used and policies on confidentiality and privacy
  4. Start with free form but focused discussions
  5. Clarify and drill down to specifics if necessary
  6. Record the discussion
  7. Collate and review results. Modify or enhance questionnaire for the next interview if necessary
  8. Analyze Results
  9. Follow up with customer on results