How To Speak To More Customers And Get More Out The Conversation

Discover. Approach. Question. Thank.

Speaking to customers about the quality of your product or service is perhaps the most important system you need to build into your business growth strategy.

Continuous positive iteration of your product is reliant on a steady stream of valuable feedback by your customers. If you want to move quickly, safely and effectively you need a customer feedback to product development feedback loop.

Our discover, approach, question and thank method has worked across multiple organisations as a powerful framework to drive effective growth.

Discover

Actually speaking to the right people is often the neglected first stage. In an attempt to gain a greater volume of customer data, you try to speak to as many customers as possible without understanding more about the value they can provide.

Segment your audience effectively across as many data points as you have available. This facilitates a more effective line of inquiry and more detailed and valuable analysis.

Depending on what you are aiming to understand from your customers certain segments will be more important. This is why identifying what you are trying to get out of these conversations beforehand is so important. If you are looking to add new elements to your offering then long-term customers are more important. If you are looking to expand into a particular market then the customers that represent that market will be a focus. Take time to consider where the most important conversations will be had.

Some of the most valuable interviewees are those who use your services but don’t pay (or pay for the cheapest possible component of your offering). They will often cite the service as too expensive or unaffordable. This is often untrue and there is a greater reluctance or something missing from your offering that would drive them to purchase.

Approach

Now you know who you want to speak to you need to approach them in the right way to ensure they are open to providing honest and valuable feedback.

Make your outreach friendly and personable. Make them feel as if they were selected because they are important to your organisation

Ensure they are clear about the format of the interview and their requirements. They should go into the interview thinking it will be an easy and comfortable experience.

If necessary offer some incentives for participation. Keep these focused on discounts or a closer relationship with the company instead of cash-type rewards.

Question

You have a limited amount of time, make it count.

Start by being empathetic, don't assume you know everything about their pain points because you are providing the solution. Let them guide the early stages of the conversation and probe where appropriate.

Be as clear and concise as possible. Avoid using medical or technical jargon unless you know they have a high level of understanding. Be clear about the message and line of inquiry, it will help them give a more valuable answer and avoid drifting.

Utilise ‘what if’ and antithetical questions to simulate alternative opinions. You are trying to uncover hidden behaviours that guide their utilisation of your product.

Don’t expect more than 30 minutes of their time. This allows for less than five questions to be asked and discussed effectively. Pick your questions wisely.

Make sure conversations are recorded. Zoom and most video call software facilitate this easily.

Thank

This is the relationship builder. Don’t make it so transactional and ensure you show gratitude for their time, it goes a long way. Customers will ideally walk away from the conversation thinking they’ve contributed positively to a service they already love to use and will now get better because of them.

Analysing Conversations

Once you’ve conducted a series of conversations you need to find the data and insights that drive your growth.

Animus AI is a health and medical industry AI co-pilot that has a specialist app designed for effective customer analysis. By inputting your conversation data you are able to ask additional questions and get insights more effectively.

You can do the same here — Animus Health (animus-health.com)