In-depth Customer Research
Using Focus Group and Interviews to Understand Customers
In-depth research is a great way to speak to your customers to find out exactly what they want. This article shows you how to do it.
Surveys are great for providing an indication of what customers or prospects do and think. But they can’t tell you why they feel that way. In-depth research, in the form of individual interviews or focus groups, is needed for that.
The big disadvantage of surveys is that they only relate to how someone feels at that particular moment of time. Respondents may answer the questions when they feel happy or annoyed, which could influence their results. In addition, surveys don’t allow participants to explain what they mean by something, or to give examples of times when they might act a different way.
What is In-depth Research?
There are two main types;
- Interviews of one to two hours duration with an individual where you probe, question and discuss areas of interest.
- Focus Groups which involve a number of people in a room discussing areas of interest with a moderator, i.e. someone who can direct the conversation and ensure it stays within the topics.
Focus groups have the advantage of people feeding off each other. Sometimes discussing something can create new streams of thought or you can gauge general levels of interest. Their major downside is that they can be dominated by ‘group-think’, or opinionated individuals dominating proceedings and not allowing a free exchange of ideas. Individual interviews get round this.
How Many People?
Not many, you’ll probably find that interviewing five to ten individuals or two to three focus groups with six to ten people in each will give you enough information.
If you’re wondering who to approach for this type of exercise then look at your own customer database. You’ll find that most people will be willing to give you an hour or so of their time to help you out. You might want to give them some kind of incentive though, either by paying them for their time or making a donation to charity.
Using a market research agency can be useful if you want to investigate a larger group or to conduct the exercise if you don’t have time.
Techniques
Use a framework covering the areas you want to investigate and then allow the respondents to talk freely. They should tell you things you never even considered. If they say something that interests you, investigate it further by asking them additional questions.
Be creative in your use of techniques. For example;
- Ask the respondents; “if this product were a car (or food, or a famous brand), which would it be?” You’ll then know if it has a low cost image, or quality, or a good all-round, reliable offering.
- Give the respondents a number of photographs and ask them to choose which they think most closely represents the benefits offered by the product. So if they choose pictures of people relaxing on holiday, it would be something pleasant to help you relax. If it were busy people in the office looking confused, then they think the product is probably confusing or not simple to use.
Legal requirements
As with all research, your state or country is likely to have legal requirements that all research must comply with. In the UK, the regulatory body is the Market Research Society, but they can also provide you with details of how to conduct in-depth research most effectively. ESOMAR takes a more worldwide perspective.
There are also other types of research available, including surveys and secondary research as outlined in Market Research Surveys and Using Publicly Available Research.
