1-to-1 executive interviews
These are used when the people to be surveyed are valued customers or important stakeholders, where a typical survey would not be appropriate. Two key points:
- your client will be speaking with a senior person in our company who can speak to them as a peer
- it is a structured interview, with some survey-style questions but is mostly a conversation that allows them to give their honest thoughts in a confidential setting.
We find that clients really appreciate this approach. The interviews are done by telephone or Teams/Zoom, and are scheduled in advance by phone/email.
Focus groups
We have held groups in rooms with one-way mirrors, in hotel meeting rooms, on-site in client offices, at tourism attractions and in community centres. Whatever the location, the key thing is that each member of the group trusts the situation, and trusts that they can freely contribute their thoughts. With this is mind, we find it is best to avoid one-way mirrors and video recording, and instead encourage members of the client team to sit-in with the group. Also, to give context to the views expressed, it’s generally better to do focus groups in combination with, or as follow-on to, quantitative research.