Six tips are provided for conducting effective customer interviews: 1) Prepare questions but be willing to change course based on the interview; 2) Treat it as a conversation rather than an interrogation; 3) Check your ego and avoid biased questions; 4) Consider how questions are worded and ask follow-ups; 5) Don't take answers at face value and observe non-verbal cues; 6) Listen to what is said while also noticing how it is said. The author is an experienced brand planner who has interviewed thousands to uncover insights about customer emotions, assumptions and motivations.

1. Six Tips for Great Customer Interviews

2. You’re working on brand messaging, content strategy, or audience
personas, and will be interviewing customers for insights. How do you
make best use of that precious time to uncover something new?

3. The best interviews are the ones that go off script. Take cues
from the person you’re interviewing – if they bring up a topic, it
means they want to share something with you. Happily follow any
unexpected discussion threads wherever they may go.
1. Prepare your questions. Then prepare to throw them away.!

4. Most people like telling their stories. If you put them at ease, and
show genuine curiosity in what they have to say, you’ll learn a lot
more than if you mechanically work your way down a
questionnaire.
2. Treat it like a conversation.!

5. It’s human nature – we’re tempted to contribute to conversations
with our own anecdotes. When interviewing customers and
prospects, resist the temptation to jump in. Allow pauses to
happen. Sometimes it just takes a simple “wow” for the other
person to keep rolling.
3. Check your ego.!

6. It seems obvious, but the way your questions are worded will
affect the responses. Unlike surveys, interviews are exploratory –
you go into them hoping to learn something new. Cast a broad
net with open-ended questions. Keep the questions bias-free.
Instead of asking, “was XX a positive experience?” try asking,
“what was that experience like for you?”
4. Remember it’s not just what you ask – it’s how you ask it.!

7. After you get an initial response, keep asking questions to
understand the other person’s underlying emotions, assumptions
and motivations. For example, "why was XX important to you," or
"what were the implications of XX," or "what was at the back of
your mind at that time?"
5. Don’t accept answers at face value.!

8. Were your interviewees brisk and confident? What made them
hesitate – or become animated? After each interview, take a few
minutes to write down any impressions that might not be
captured in the interview transcripts. You’ll treasure these notes
when it comes time to capture buyers’ emotional and social
motivations in your personas.
6. Listen to what people say. Also notice how they say it. !

9. As a brand planner with 15 years of marketing agency experience,
Anne has interviewed and surveyed thousands of people in search of
customer insights: from border control agents to spine surgeons,
commercial real estate tenants to parents of dyslexic kids. Her
strength is uncovering the practical, emotional and social factors that
drive brand preference.
Anne Piessens
anne@gistbrandmarketing.com
About the author!