We are regularly asked, “What’s the best way to interview clients?” By exploring the strengths and limitations of different feedback methods—and the value client feedback can deliver - we aim to answer that question in this article.
The starting point is to be clear about why you are conducting client feedback. Is the objective to gain an overall view of client sentiment, focus on a specific group of clients (such as VIP or growth clients), assess service delivery, identify business opportunities, mitigate risk, demonstrate that you are listening, or gather benchmarking data (for example, likelihood to recommend)? Often, the answer is a combination of these.
Once the purpose of the feedback programme is clear, it becomes easier to determine the types of questions required and the most appropriate interview methods to use. The diagram below summarises the commonly accepted advantages and disadvantages of the four main client feedback interview methods.
In-person or virtual meetings
One of the key challenges in any client interview is the respondent’s attention span and what can realistically be achieved within it.
- An in‑person interview typically lasts around an hour. After introductions and formalities, this usually leaves around 40 minutes for discussion. The benefit of face‑to‑face interviews is the ability to observe body language and other non‑verbal cues, enabling the interviewer to adapt their questioning and ensure that the most important issues are explored in depth. This often results in rich, high‑quality insight.By contrast, it is difficult to maintain a respondent’s attention for more than five to ten minutes when completing an online survey, even when they have a vested interest in providing feedback. As a result, the difference in depth and quality between an in‑person interview and a web‑based survey is significant.
Where do telephone interviews fit; are theys still appropriate in a virtual world?
Yes definatley. There are broadly two types of telephone interview: high‑speed interviews and executive interviews, and the distinction is important.
- High‑speed interviews are commonly used in polling. For example, where a pollster needs to predict an election outcome, a large number of short interviews - often five to seven minutes - are conducted using tightly scripted, mainly closed questions. Interviewers focus on completing as many interviews as possible in a limited timeframe. While this approach is efficient for quantitative polling, it is not appropriate for generating high‑quality client feedback in professional or B2B markets.
- Executive telephone interviews are very different. Typically lasting 25 - 40 minutes (or sometimes longer), they are semi‑structured and based around open questions that encourage discussion. Establishing trust and rapport is critical, as this enables respondents to speak openly and candidly. Interviewers probe in depth, steer the conversation, and focus on eliciting actionable insight. Interviews are often recorded and transcribed to ensure accuracy and richness of analysis.
It is this latter approach that underpins telephone‑based client feedback interviews. When conducted well, executive telephone interviews can deliver insight comparable to face‑to‑face interviews, while avoiding travel costs and offering far greater depth than an online survey.
So what is the best interview method?
In practice, the answer is almost always a combination of methods, selected to suit the context of the conversation. Most professional services firms and B2B organisations have a client base that can be represented as a pyramid: VIP clients at the top, clients with growth potential in the middle, and a larger group of clients forming the base.
This client mix helps determine the most appropriate interview approach. From our experience, executive telephone interviews often provide the best balance of insight quality, coverage, and cost. In‑person interviews can be particularly valuable for VIP clients, where personal engagement and deference matter, while online surveys can be effective for contacting larger numbers of clients efficiently.
Virtual interviews typically sit somewhere between in‑person and telephone interviews. However, they can be challenging to conduct well, as maintaining eye contact while simultaneously managing a discussion guide and observing non‑verbal cues requires a high level of concentration and interviewer skill.