How to Conduct VOC Interviews: A Guide

1. How to Conduct VOC Interviews: A Guide

2. Contents • Getting Started • Asking Questions • Do’s & Don’t’s • After the Interview

3. Upon arrival … • Recording the interview • Be unobtrusive, but not secretive • Have the right equipment – check it ahead of time, use fresh batteries • Create a separate file for each interview and label files clearly and immediately • If recording is not possible, a separate person should take notes • Your only choice! • If there are multiple people, one person should lead the interview • Leader asks most of the questions • Assistant can toss in occasional follow-up questions • No more than two (maybe three) interviewers per respondent

4. Introduce Yourself and the Research • Introduce yourself using a warm and friendly tone. You want to come across as a professional, but not too stiff! • Put the candidate at ease by explaining the research and how the interview will unfold, including: • The purpose of the study • How respondent was selected • Who else is being interviewed • That the respondent’s identity will be kept anonymous • Why it will be audio-recorded • How the information will be used • The idea that you will be probing for details and verbatims • This is not a sales call • Cannot commit to any fixes of a particular product you discuss, nor a timetable of release

5. Sample Introduction • Use this as a guide. • Try to be welcoming and put the interviewee at ease. • Hit all these important points, but make it your own! Hello my name is ___________________. I work for _______________________, located in ______________________. [As you probably know], we manufacture / sell / do _______________________. My team is conducting a study in support of our next generation of ____________________. As part of this effort, we’re conducting interviews all around the country with people like you. These interviews will help us better understand your wants and needs, the problems you face using current products, and how we can do a better job of serving you. We’re going to talk for about [45 minutes] and I hope that we have a very open-ended conversation. There are no right or wrong answers; I want to hear your opinions about the various topics we discuss. You may notice that I ask “why” a lot, and that I ask you to elaborate on your answers. Some of my questions might seem obvious or redundant, but I want to hear the details in your own words. A few details before we begin: • I am going to be recording our conversation so I won’t have to take notes during our discussion, but I assure you that everything you tell me will remain confidential and be used for research purposes only. • I don’t plan to ask you anything that might be considered confidential, but if there’s anything you’d prefer not to answer, just say so and we’ll move on. Or if you want to go off the record, I’ll be glad to stop the recording. • You will not receive a sales call, appear in an advertisement, or anything else as a result of this research, but I might want to follow-up with you after our discussion if I have additional questions. Do you have any other questions before we begin?

6. Getting Started • Think of it as a “guided conversation” • Use an interview guide, but never read the questions verbatim • Find a style that works for you – be real, be friendly, okay to show a sense of humor • Try to maintain eye contact • Make respondent feel at ease – reassure them, even dress like them • Remember to turn on the audio recorder

7. During the Interview … • During the interview, you’ll be multi-tasking a lot! • Listening to what the person says and trying to understand them • Maintaining eye contact • Thinking about when and what to probe on • Considering the next topic to cover (glancing at the guide) • Keeping track of time • Often, that awkward silence is okay • They’re thinking • Silence can serve as a useful probe Tip: Your only note taking should be to remind yourself what to go back to later

8. Show deference and humility … • Use Active Listening • Listen with your eyes as well as your ears • Watch and listen for attitudes, opinions, and beliefs • Use positive, non-verbal communciation • Don’t interrupt • Don’t offer solutions when problems are raised • Don’t argue with or correct the speaker • Many respondents may have more expertise than you on the subject – and that’s OKAY • Asking them to explain can be flattering – they’re the expert! • Don’t be afraid to ask what might feel like a ‘stupid’ question

9. Contents • Getting Started • Asking Questions • Do’s & Don’t’s • After the Interview

10. Start with warm-up questions • Build some rapport with the interviewee at the start • Asking easy questions to warm up respondents and better prepare them to answer more complex questions later in the discussion • For business-to-business respondents: • Ask questions about their company, job title or function. • For consumer respondents: • Ask questions about their family status, living situation and hobbies. • Be careful, however, not to spend too much time on this part of the interview. A respondent’s time is limited, and you want to remain respectful of that.

11. Remember why you’re here: To Listen for Wants and Needs, the heart of VOC “A description, in the customers’ own words, of the benefit to be fulfilled by the product or service” Wants and Needs

12. Probing – A critical part of VOC interviewing that gets to needs • Why, why, why, why, why … • Keep asking “why” types of questions until it almost gets ridiculous!! • Try to get at the real underlying need • Be inquisitive, but not judgmental • Not “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?”, but: • Why do you say that? • Why do you feel that way? • Why do you prefer that one? • Why is that important? • Why did that interest you? • Why would that be better? Why? Why? Why?

13. Probing: Keep them talking • Encourage them to continue • Silently: Nod, smile, lean forward, etc. • Overtly: “Hmm, Uh-huh, I see, Got it, Oh Interesting” • Watch for respondent’s non-verbal cues • Probe when: • What they’re saying doesn’t match their body language • They show signs of discomfort • Key Word Triggers • Explain generalities: • “What do you mean by_____?” • “How do you define_____?” • “Tell me more about_____.” Common Generalities Quality Durable Flexible Reliable Easy to use

14. Example Probe Words • ALL RIGHT • APPEALING • ATTRACTIVE • BAD • BAD FOR • BETTER • BEST • COLOR • COMPLICATED • COMMUNICATION • CONSISTENCY • EASY TO UNDERSTAND • ECONOMICAL • ENJOY • EXPENSIVE • FAST • FINE • FLAT • FLEXIBLE • FUN • FUNNY • GOOD • HARD • HARSH • OKAY • PARTNER • PRETTY • PRICE • QUALITY • QUICK • RELIABLE • SATISFACTORY • SHAPE • SIMPLE • SIZE • SMALL • TASTE

15. Paraphrasing • What is paraphrasing? • Repeating your understanding of the speaker’s comments in your own words • Asking the speaker if that is correct and whether there are any clarifications • When / Why should you use paraphrasing? • As a check for verifying understanding • For showing empathy • To capture the speaker’s key points for transcript Tip: Don’t assume you know what the person means; always have them clarify it for you

16. Good vs. Bad questions • No matter how much preparation you put into your Discussion Guide, when you are in the moment, talking to an interviewee, it can be difficult to remember how to ask questions in a way that will encourage an expression of needs • The following pages provide examples of common questioning areas (e.g. price, reliability, features) and how you can ask them in a way that will help to bring needs to the surface

17. Bad questions and good questions: Price Instead of asking… Ask… How do you determine if a product is a good value? How much would you be willing to pay for this product? How do you calculate total cost of ownership for a product like this? The last time you purchased a product like this, what options did you take on it?

18. Bad questions and good questions: Reliability Instead of asking… Ask… How do you define reliability in a product like this? On a scale of one to ten, how important is reliability? Give me an example of a time that reliability was not good, and the impact it had on your business What do you think are the most important factors when considering a product like this, and why?

19. Bad questions and good questions: Features Instead of asking… Ask… How do you use our product today? What other products do you use to do the same thing? What features would you like to see in the next version of our product? Give me an example of a time you were frustrated using our product. Why? Walk me through the steps involved in using our product, from start to finish. What takes the most time/effort/hassle?

20. Bad questions and good questions: Quality Instead of asking… Ask… How do you define quality? How important is quality in our product? What is the impact of poor quality on your business? Which company provides the highest quality product? Why?

21. Bad questions and good questions: Competition Instead of asking… Ask… Where do you see our industry heading? What makes you say that? What has our competition told you? Which companies in our industry are trending up, in your opinion? Which are trending down? What concerns do you have about our direction? What about our competitors?

22. Bad questions and good questions: Target Values Instead of asking… Ask… How big/small/fast does our product need to be? Why do you pick that number? How big/small/fast/etc. does our product need to be? What does a bigger/smaller/faster product let you accomplish? When the product is too big/small/slow, how does it impact you?

23. Bad questions and good questions: Self criticism Instead of asking… Ask… What was the best experience you had working with us? The worst? How do you like our company? Walk through the process of placing an order with our company. What can go wrong? What does our brand mean to you? Why is that important?

24. Bad questions and good questions: Timing Instead of asking… Ask… When was the last time you bought a product? What triggered the purchase process? When do you think you will be ready to purchase another product? How often do you upgrade your product? How do you decide that it’s time to upgrade? Who decides that it’s time to purchase another product? Who else is involved in the decision?

25. Bad questions and good questions: Loyalty Instead of asking… Ask… Among all products you buy, is there a company you find you return to over and over? Why? What can our company do to make you more loyal? Assuming the price is right, what company is your first choice for this product? Why? When you buy this product, do you tend to shop around our go directly to one supplier? Why?

26. Bad questions and good questions: Customer satisfaction Instead of asking… Ask… What could a company like ours do to improve? What would that do for you? How satisfied are you with a product/company? Has you ever considered switching suppliers of this product? What provoked it? Would you recommend our product/company to a friend/colleague? Why or why not?

27. Contents • Getting Started • Asking Questions • Do’s & Don’t’s • After the Interview

28. Some Do’s

29. Some Don’ts

30. Dealing with the “Silent Type” • Small talk is important – okay to discuss common interests to encourage conversation • Don’t expect every minute to yield data • When all else fails, cut your losses and finish early; but be graceful • Don’t commit to a fixed length of time for the interview – specify a range • Offer the incentive no matter what

31. Getting Them to Shut Up • To stop a long-winded respondent: • Stop giving cues • Gracefully change the subject • “Let me ask you to stop for a moment. I want to make sure I fully understand something you said earlier.” • To end the interview with a long-winded respondent: • Put your Interview Guide away • Look at your watch and say… • “We’re going to have to stop now/in a few minutes” • “I don’t want to keep you”

32. Remember … • Don’t try to ask every person every question in the interview guide • Within any single interview, depth is more important than breadth • Every interview will be different • Some will be more interesting than others! • Don’t take the quality of the interview – good or bad – too personally

33. Contents • Getting Started • Asking Questions • Do’s & Don’t’s • After the Interview

34. Don’t Forget! After you conduct your VOC interviews, you will send the audio files to be transcribed and then you (and others) will analyze the transcripts. To make this a smooth process, immediately after each interview, be sure to: • Grade each interview • Use an A, B or C scheme, with plusses and minuses allowed (e.g., B+, C-, etc.). • A’s are very good: articulate respondent, lots of needs • B’s are next best • C’s are not so good – or worse • You will use this critical information to prioritize the best interviews when reading transcripts and coding needs • B+ or higher typically receives two readers while B or lower receives only one 2. Label the audio files clearly • You may not be the only one using the audio files after the interview. • Be sure to label them with: • First name, last initial, company, date