Customer Marketing Research Kit

Remember to:

• Keep your talking to a minimum
  

  • What your customer has to say is much more important than what you have to say
  • Don’t try to fill the silence yourself unless you need to move onto the next question

• Deviate from the discussion guide as needed
  

  • Remember, it’s a guide, not an exact script

• Watch the time
  

  • Stay on schedule to get the answers you need
  • Try not to let the participate see you checking the time

Building rapport
‍The more comfortable a customer is, the more they’ll open up. That’s why the best interviewers start building rapport the moment the conversation starts and work to maintain it over the course of the interview. 

How to build and keep rapport during an interview:

• Warm them up during the first five minutes and get them comfortable talking with you so that you get better answers
  

  • Mention the weather or ask how their day or week was
  • Tell them the high-level structure of the interview
  • Tell them what high-level action the info will be used for
  • Remind them of the length of the interview
  • Tell them how useful their answers will be

• Keep an eye on their body language
  

  • If they’re nervous, tentative or bored, reassure them that they’re giving great answers

• Keeping them comfortable
  

  • Face them, make eye contact, and avoid fidgeting or crossing your arms to make interviewees feel comfortable and listened to
  • Lean forward and give an “uh huh” or “mmhmm” to show your customers you’re interested in what they have to say
  • Acknowledge their complaints and if you’re unable to address them, assure them you’ll pass the info on to the relevant party

• Keep a balance
  

  • You want the customer to be comfortable, but getting too friendly opens you up to friendliness bias
  • Lean forward and give an “uh huh” or “mmhmm” to show your customers you’re interested in what they have to say
  • Acknowledge their complaints and if you’re unable to address them, assure them you’ll pass the info on to the relevant party

• Do a wrap up summary at the end
  

  • Don’t abruptly end the interview after your last question
  • Let the person ask a few of their own questions

‍After the interview
‍The process doesn’t end once you close Zoom. You want to give your customer a great experience and if you’re including an incentive, you should send it as soon as possible after the interview. 

And whether you have an incentive or not, you should send them an email thanking them for their time.

Tool: Interview dos and don’ts

Tool: Thank you email template