Customer Contact doesn’t always take the lead on VOC (voice of the customer) activities; often, company leaders rely on their Market Insights or Marketing functions to run surveys, conduct ethnographies and focus groups, and study customer behavior and mindset.
But as customer service becomes more complicated – more channels, complex products, etc. – we’ve been hearing more demand for customer service-led VOC projects to help service leaders and business partners make informed decisions to improve the customer experience.
Unfortunately, VOC can be tough to get right. Our research has found that over 75% of internal business partners are dissatisfied with VOC insights currently provided by Customer Service – but an overwhelming majority of business partners also state that VOC insights are very important to customer experience improvement.
One especially difficult type of customer observation to ace is the customer focus group. Focus groups are an effective tool to gain deep insight into the “why” behind customer decision-making and preferences. However, done wrong, a focus group can be a huge waste of resources, infuriate the customers you’ve asked to participate, or even worse, mislead your customer experience improvement efforts.
The most successful focus groups are carefully planned and orchestrated, and typically require a great deal of pre-work. The payoff though, is far more fruitful than could be obtained from a survey or even a 1-1 call with a customer, as participants tend to play off one another and reach deeper, richer insights as a group than they could alone.
If you’re planning an upcoming focus group, below is a 5-item checklist to help ensure success.
1. Decide what type of focus group to use based on your objective
Focus groups are typically informal discussions with 8-12 people, but also come in many shapes and sizes depending on the goal. For example, a single moderator setup enables smooth flow of discussion and idea exploration, but can lack comprehensive topic coverage. Meanwhile, a two-way focus group where one group watches another can increase complexity of insights gathered and be a great tool for choosing between options. Think about what priorities are most important to your VOC project to select the right setup.
CEB Customer Contact members: Consult pages 30 and 32 of our “How to Conduct Focus Groups” Toolkit to view focus group types and how to choose based on objective.
2. Carefully choose participants
Participants must have some things in common: subject matter knowledge, willingness to participate and share ideas freely, ability to easily access your chosen location, etc. But, you also have to ensure your group has a variety of opinions and backgrounds so your discussion doesn’t skew in one direction only.
3. Plan for potential challenges and problems
Focus groups can yield surprising, new customer insights, but can also go south quickly if you aren’t prepared! The key is to contingency plan, and internally test and re-test your discussion guide. Make sure your moderator is prepared to address common issues such as the discussion going off-track or the possibility of overly dominating participants. And, use a variety of open-ended question prompts to keep the discussion flowing (e.g. “Please tell me more…” or “Could you give me an example?”)
CEB Customer Contact members: Consult page 33 of our “How to Conduct Focus Groups” Toolkit for tips on creating a discussion guide and dealing with potential issues.
4. Make sure your analysis is unbiased
Once you’ve held your focus group, the next step is to analyze and report findings. To make sure your takeaways aren’t biased, you should apply guardrails during your analysis. For example, rather than rely on gut analysis, develop categories of data based on quotes, phrases, and keywords to organize the information. While analyzing, consult with business partners to parse out a handful of common themes using elements such as word usage frequency and consistency with conventional wisdom.
5. Summarize takeaways succinctly
If there’s one common Achilles heel for a great customer insights report, it’s the length! Even the most interesting, insightful report won’t be read if it takes too much effort. The highlights of your report should be short, memorable, surprising, and to the point. If possible, craft your report into a story to help your readers remember the key findings.
CEB Customer Contact Members: Consult page 34 of our “How to Conduct Focus Groups” Toolkit for additional tips on conducting focus group data analysis and developing a findings report.
Interested in learning more about the end-to-end details involved in planning a focus group? Check out CEB Customer Contact’s toolkit on “How to Conduct Focus Groups,” a great starter guide for those thinking about planning their next focus group, including how to select moderators, focus group type, and how to plan at each stage of the process.
Additional Resources
- Voice of the Customer (Online Resource Center)
- How to Conduct Ethnographic Research (Toolkit)
- Measuring Voice of the Customer: Separating Customer “Wants” from Customer “Needs” (Webinar Replay)