This was the most frequently asked question from the participants in the clarify event Q&A held at WeWork in 2018. And my answer to this was simply "Meet and talk...". To be honest, at the time, I was so nervous about sharing my thoughts that I hadn't thought deeply about why the people who came were there. I also lacked the thought of how to express my long-time interview experience. So, I'm sharing the answer I couldn't give at the time through this article.

Why interview? The most practical guideline and feedback for corporate activities

Anyone who has run a big or small business knows it. The advice of someone who has succeeded is likely to exist only in theory in the face of an entrepreneur's reality. Each company's situation, the value offered by products/services, is different, and the meaning of consumption is constantly changing depending on the related market and the situation of major customers. So, it is closer to reality that everyone faces a new uncertainty and spends their day.

In such a situation, what is needed to clarify the current problems and increase sales by improving them is feedback from customers who are currently purchasing the product/service. Many people know the importance of this feedback, but they feel vague and afraid of how to talk to customers.

Check first. A perspective on looking at customers

A new 'customer' may be an unknown, pronoun-like entity, but a customer who has already paid for a company's product or service is no longer a vague target. If you change your perspective, it becomes an existence like a colleague who has at least something to say about their purchase and is interested in it. The product/service purchased is connected to the customer's personal story, and there is a tendency to want to share this consumption with someone.

When I was interviewing female customers aged 25-40 for a shampoo brand in the past, many interview participants showed a common reaction at the end of the interview. "It's fun to talk about my daily shampoo experience. I don't usually have this kind of conversation. Let me know if you have another opportunity like this."

The questions asked at the time were about their experience using shampoo, their feelings about shampoo, their expression of the appearance of the bathroom, and taking pictures, etc. These were stories that were not special, too everyday, and not worth talking about. However, when they were asked questions from the outside and expressed them verbally, they felt new, and above all, when they talked with friends or strangers they met for the first time, this verbal expression of emotions about their daily life seemed to have a different meaning. For example, when three women shared the same topic of shampoo, the look of checking the chemical ingredients on the back, rumors about shampoo that they heard from others that were inaccurate but somehow relatable, and the bare appearance of the bathroom that they wanted to look clean, all of these experiences were interesting to the interview participants.

Customers want to talk. However, if a situation is provided where they can reveal themselves without any calculations.

Break. Role-playing as a social being

We are social beings. Phenomenology understands that humans are irrational beings and make choices based on their relationships and situations within the society they belong to. I am carrying out the project based on this philosophical perspective, so this reveals an important point in customer interviews as well.

In a situation where someone belonging to a company interviews customers, customers approach the interview by separating what they should and should not say about their consumption. Also, the person in charge of the brand prepares a company-biased question list and tends to view the customer in front of them as a sales target rather than an individual. Customers immediately feel this, and as the conversation progresses, they become more loyal to their social role. As a result, the company's survey is full of questions about product usage experience, and the customer chooses a mechanical answer that is disconnected from their situation, resulting in a conversation that loses its essence.

A few years ago, there was a case where a liquor brand conducted a satisfaction survey after tasting four different flavors of related products to customers who had never seen them before, even though the brand's awareness in Korea was around 15%. Even if you offer a variety of flavors to customers who are unfamiliar with the taste and meaning of the product itself, it is difficult for this data to help the brand's future activities.

In summary, in the customer recruitment stage for interviews, and in the situation of directly facing them,the first thing to secure is the communication of the neutral intention and attitude of the interviewerIt is. The clearer you make it that "we are trying to pre-share the company's concerns and find answers to them", the more honest information you can get from customers. Also, just by showing this attitude,customers realize that they have become a being who is respected and helped through their consumption.do.

However, remember this. The goal of an interview is not to secure well-organized answers.The goal of an interview is to deepen emotional communication with customers.It should be. When you meet for the first time but express interest in the customer's "daily life" related to consumption, the customer experiences it as a pleasant conversation. And creating a time where the company's staff's concerns become their own and sharing heartfelt opinions based on their personal experiences, that is the real goal of the interview and the only way to get feedback that is truly helpful.

Sometimes, I see people around me misunderstanding interviews as a process of exchanging professional and sharp questions and listening to neat answers. Interviews are not performances.The true meaning lies in the process after the interview and strengthening the relationship.To do this, it is essential to change the attitude and perspective of the person in charge of dealing with customers.

Always. Customers are at the center of the questions

You can read the rest of the article at the link below due to word count limitations.

https://durumis.com/ko/@ryan8bc470fe/customer-interview-report-2-vle1lvv5