Effective Customer Interviews Make Life Much Easier!

One of the critical success factors for service-related businesses is our ability to understand a client's needs and requirements. Misunderstandings can lead to loss of repeat business, economic loss, and damage to reputation.

Although interactions in small business are often much more casual than those at the big end of town, interviews with clients differ from ordinary conversations even though they may appear to resemble them:

Friendly conversation

a. Not directed toward a purpose
b. Equal distribution of talking/listening
c. Fewer questions
d. Redundancy and repetition are drawbacks to conversation

Interview

a. Directed towards a purpose and therefore has a structure that must reflect its purpose

b. Largely questions from one and answers from other party (interviewer mainly listens while encouraging interviewee to talk)

c. Redundancy and repetition desirable in interviews

d. Interviewer needs to use a range of strategies to make sure interviewee has been fully understood

A good structure for an interview is:

1. Establish rapport
2. Get the big picture (general information gathering)
3. Gather specific information
4. Intervene (give information, advice, or instructions)
5. End, including feedback and summary

These stages may be interactive, occurring several times throughout the interview.Interviews go wrong in predictable ways. Approximately 40% of clients do not ask an initial question that explains their need in precise terms, so the purpose of the interview is to clarify the question. And that process can fall foul of one of five common causes of communication accidents:

i. Not listening

ii. Playing twenty questions (as opposed to open-ended questioning)

iii. Interrupting at inappropriate times

iv. Making assumptions

v. Not following up

To optimise the time spent in an interview, you can use a range of techniques:

1. Open-ended questions (as opposed to closed questions that invite 'yes/no' answers)

2. Sense-making questions ? these provide more structure than open-ended questions but are less likely to lead to premature diagnosis than closed questions. They also leave the interviewee in control

3. Reflecting content ? summarise and paraphrase what your client has said

4. Closure techniques:

i.To indicate that discussion of a topic has been completed, at least for the moment

ii.To focus the interviewee's attention on what has been achieved in the discussion (can be used when the conversation is wandering)

iii. To establish a good communication climate so that the interviewee looks forward to the next encounter

Your marketing, client knowledge of the industry in general and your services in particular, and those client's expectations of your service, play a role in ill-formed queries from clients, because they reflect those clients mental models of how your business and its systems work. Obviously, an individual's mental model of any system is, by definition, inaccurate and incomplete in relation to the conceptual model. It is the degree of discrepancy that is important.

Clients tend to phrase their initial questions in a way they believe meet the requirements of the system. Inadequacy of clients' mental models becomes greater as systems become more complex, so the potential for mismatch will be vastly different for a sandwich bar, for example, compared to a business which is part of a more complex industry, such as a financial services business.

Common generators of ill-formed queries include:

a. Request for something broad and general when the client actually wants something very specific

b. Request for something specific but there is a mismatch between the specific thing requested and what they actually need

c. Client asks a question based on a misunderstanding of how the system works, or to clarify a confusion

d. Terminology used is ambiguous

e. The question involves a reconstruction which the client has gotten wrong

f. The question contains an error or misconception

Small business operators, particularly those operating service-related businesses, need to be aware and take steps to check for discrepancies between interviewer and client mental models. The good news is that mental models change through an incremental learning process.

Jennifer Cram is a sought after Civil Celebrant based in Brisbane, Queensland, who credits her success to her capacity for 'inspired listening'. She has also had 30 years management experience in the public sector. For more information: http://www.jennifercram.com

Copyright © 2005 Jennifer Cram. You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

---

Franchises: How to Find the Best Franchise Opportunity for You

If you are looking for a franchise opportunity, the choice... Read More

Starting a Tractor Washing Business

In the heavy equipment cleaning business you can make good... Read More

Where Can I Get Clients From?

The following tips have come from a wide variety of... Read More

Building A Business That Works For You

Before you want to build your business, you need to... Read More

Small Business Marketing, According to Seinfeld

What could Seinfeld possibly have to do with marketing a... Read More

Do You Want Your Own Fully Programmable ERP? - Part 2

In the first article we mentioned the main characteristics that... Read More

Questions to Ask as Your Business Grows

Here are some of the questions that you need to... Read More

Small Business Failure? Nuts!

Pardon my enthusiasm, but a large part of your small... Read More

Competition Relations in Auto Detailing

There is significant competition in auto detailing and car washing.... Read More

How to Start an Office Support Service

Office support services can range from basic data entry to... Read More

How to Remove Stress from Owning a Business... Forever!

I meet and talk to hundreds and hundreds of business... Read More

Is Your Business Profitable?

What's your job profitability? Do you know?Many business owners are... Read More

The More you GIVE the More you GET

Why give freebies?We have all seen freebies at trade shows... Read More

Dealing With a Crooked on the Take Government Worker

Many government department heads are on the take. Oh they'll... Read More

Detailing Business Options

So you want to get into the auto detailing business... Read More

How to Create an Employee Manual

Large corporations use employee manuals to both educate employees about... Read More

Comparing Boston Area for a mobile car wash business

The Boston suburbs seem to be rich with possible locations... Read More

Covenants Not To Compete: Another Franchise Quandary

Imagine that you have operated a successful franchise business for... Read More

Hosted PBX, Is It Right For You?

"Order Now!" "Your Business Will Fail If You Don't Have... Read More

Franchise Buyers Lying On Forms

The Federal Trade Commission which governs the franchise industry thru... Read More

How Your Habits Control Your Small Business Success

Habit: A consistent behavior you perform so frequently that it... Read More

Mobile Detailing VS Fixed Site Detailers

Mobile detailers will find themselves with lots of competition even... Read More

Promote Yourself More Successfully

One of the great challenges for independent professionals and small... Read More

Equipment Maintenance Manual for Mobile Cleaning Business Outline

Service Cleaning Businesses must maintain their equipment in order to... Read More

Alliances: Drawing The Line

How far can you go based on your relationship with... Read More

How to Protect Yourself & Your Business

As a business owner, you already know how important it... Read More

Make Your Business More Profitable

More sales and more profit. Isn't that what you want... Read More

Franchise Companies Come and Go

Each day we hear of companies entering the franchising industry.... Read More

Franchises Offer Shortcuts, But Not Control

Q: I will be retiring this year at age 60... Read More

Cash Flow: Why Chaos Equals Poor Cash Flow

Recently one of my customers told me the chaos swirling... Read More

Three Small Business Secrets to Getting More Billable Time

As small business owners we're in business to make money... Read More

Small Businesses You Can Start in Automotive

There are many choices when thinking about a small business... Read More

3.5 Million People And A Possible UK Home Business Opportunity

Has this ever happened to you... 'John, you have a... Read More