This is the second post where I’ll be talking about qualitative customer interviews and here, I’ll discuss the process of preparation, implementation and their most common problems.
I will also enlighten you on all the serious issues that prevent you from getting useful data for better product development.
You can refer to part 1 here and follow the guide below on how to conduct qualitative interviews that yield results:
Piloting
Another element to the interview preparation is the organization of a pilot test with colleagues or participants.
The pilot test will help you in finding out limitations, or weaknesses within the interview design and will allow you to make necessary revisions.
The pilot test will also assist you with the refinement of the questions and it will be a helpful practise for the real interviews.
Preparing The Interviews
This step will allow a smooth development of the interviews; some of the suggestions are obvious but paying attention to these details could make the difference between a good and profitable session and a problematic and unfruitful session.
Choose a suitable setting: the interviewee must be comfortable and not distracted. If possible, I always use/advise a hotel/exhibition center conference room.
Proper Timing: Be sure that both you and the participants block off enough uninterrupted time for the interviews. As poor scheduling of the interviews will only generate annoyances and disruptions.
Define The Purpose: Clearly explain the purpose of the interview, how the data collected will be analyzed and who will get access to their answers.
Prepare an informed consent: Do not assume that English will be OK for everyone.
Provide Information: Explain the format of the interview and how long it will take. Ask them if they have any questions, before you start the interview.
Gather Data: Collect some useful data, for example demographic, psychographic or behavioural, if relevant and to confirm that the participant is in the target group.
Implementing The Interviews
After the long preparation you will finally start interviewing the participants; here I collected a list of useful suggestions for interview implementation:
In-Person Interview: It’s preferable to organize the interviews in person. Using videoconference is OK too but other systems like audio conferences are not suitable.
Talk to one participant at the time: You might think to include 2 persons in the same session to increase efficiency.
However, I’ll suggest you do away with that idea, as the participants will influence each other and you could easily lose control of the interview.
Remain Neutral: Don’t show noticeable emotional reactions (smiling, etc..) to their responses.
Have Another Person Take Notes: Notes taking is fundamental; in my experience you will not be able to interview the participant and take notes at the same time without losing some elements. Or you could miss the opportunity to build a good relationship with the participant.
Nothing can ruin the interview more than to be seen as more interested in getting the notes than looking at the person you are talking to, in the eyes.
Encourage Responses: Nods and facial expression are useful tools to support the willingness of sharing without influencing the participant. It’s also a way of showing that you have genuine care, concern, and interest for the person you are interviewing.
Follow Your Interview Plan But Be Flexible: Take the opportunity to dig deeply if something interesting will pop up. Don’t be afraid to ask for clarifications and the “why” behind the “what,” as long as the participant doesn’t get annoyed.
Start With A Warm-up And Connect With The Participant: Explain who you are, what your goal is, and why you are there. Then, thank the participant for their time. Follow the plan, but do not rigidly read your list and remember to actively listen to them.
Encourage Story Telling: When asking the questions, get people telling stories about how they experienced a situation/problem in the past. As they are telling their story, follow up with questions about their emotional state.
Identify Priorities: How painful is the problem for your customer, and in what position is it in the priority list?
Listen More And Talk Less: By asking the questions you have already spoken enough.
The rest of the time stay quiet and let them share their experiences.
Paraphrase: For important topics, repeat with your own word the concept expressed by the participant to check if you have correctly interpreted the meaning.
Pay attention to confirmation bias: You need to be aware of your ability to hear what you want to hear.
Stay In Control Of The Interview: It is your responsibility to keep the participant on the topic and to use the time correctly.
Interpreting The Data
The final constituent of the interview process is organizing and interpreting the data that was collected during the interview process.
During this phase, you must make “sense” out of what was discovered and compile the data into sections or groups of information. The objective is to identify consistent phrases, expressions, or ideas that were common among research participants.
Your goal is to make better decisions to increase the odds of success of your new product.
Know that Qualitative interviews will not give you statistically significant data, but they will provide you insights based on patterns. You need to use your judgement to identify biases based on the participants of your study.
Typical Mistakes To Be Aware Of
I will start with a confession; I am sure I have done all the mistakes I will list below.
I discovered that although knowing them is already a good way to improve your qualitative interviews, the best you can do to escape from these human errors is to work as a team where feedback and suggestions are strongly encouraged.
For example, having the note taker to give to the interviewer his feedback, right after the interview and vice versa regarding the notes.
You collect your data from the wrong subjects: Especially when time is running, and you want to reach your goal. For example, the defined number of interviews: you start to interview participants borderline or not on target.
When you have defined your customer, stick with this profile; it is better to have less participants and collect data that makes sense than enlarge the target and have problems finding a pattern.
You Influence The Participants: It is absolutely normal to already have your idea in your mind; however, pay attention to avoid influencing the participants and putting the answer in their mouth. Examine your tone of voice, your body language, the wording and ask for feedback to the note taker.
You Hear Only Confirmations: This is like the previous mistake, but in relation to listening. When you have a strong conviction, your brain tries to focus on your belief and filter everything else. Also, in this case the note taker is helpful because he/she will write the answers. And the space for interpretation and overseeing is limited.
You Talk Too Much: This my favourite sin and I know I’m still committing it. The more you talk, the more you risk influencing the participant; moreover, you give less space for telling stories and open expression. You don’t have to do your sales pitch yet, as this is not the correct place for this.
You Try To Get Too Much From A Single Interview: It depends on the purpose of the interviews but try to limit the number of questions, you cannot test everything, and you should focus on the areas which are critical.
Consider that 6 to 10 well-written open-ended questions can easily take an hour to an hour and a half to get through. Hence, an interview that lasts a little more than one hour is still acceptable, while an interview that last a lot more than one hour is a torture for the participants.
You jump to conclusions too early: Sometimes after a couple of interviews with convincing participants, for example influencing KOL with strong opinions, instinctively you think you already know all the elements. But, be patient, look for patterns and use your judgement.
You are not well prepared: Preparation is key, so, do not skip any step. Ask the team member to provide inputs and modify if needed. A pilot with at least one colleague is mandatory.
You consider the VOC a single step and not a process: Although, I’m focusing here on the VOC at the beginning of a new product development. The VOC is a process that should never end during the development of a new product.
You consider the customer as the designer: It is not the customer’s job to come up with solutions. Your goal is to let them talk about their problems, and not your solution.
Remember that the further away you are from the product, the more you should use your judgement.
You asked for predictions: Very common mistakes, if you ask the wrong questions like “would you use a product that…?” “Would you pay for a device….?” “Would you like a device that allows you….?” you will get speculations that you must really consider with caution.
Conclusions
I have already explained in this post that a robust VOC study should include different methodologies.
Although, there is no standard recipe to follow, by using business acumen and judgement you should use the appropriate tools for your goals.
That said, Qualitative interviews are a powerful instrument in the hand of the marketers involved in product development and should be used frequently to test the high-risk hypothesis of your product or business model etc
Also, interviewing is a science and an art, and the journey to learn how to do it correctly, is never ending.
However, I hope the information shared in this post will help you advance in the right direction.
What other strategies can you use to conduct effective customer interviews?… Have you subscribed to this blog yet? 😉