Making the most of your consulting client interviews (2/2)
A guide to consulting client interviews. The interviewee experience typically involves 2-3 interactions with the consultant which can be shaped by what, when and how the consultants undertake several ‘below the glass’ tasks.
It's about the journey.
In my previous post, I outlined the benefit of viewing the consulting client interview as a journey. With 2-3 interactions with the stakeholder to create a trusted space in which they can share their views and experience.
This post digs further into the ‘below the glass’ tasks that the consultants need to happen (in a systematic way) to achieve the goals of the interview/ discovery phase.
Before:
The goals of the project will inform the questions you want interviewees to answer. Brainstorm to narrow down the critical questions e.g. what do you need to ask and know to understand why X is how it is? Or where the client’s X is struggling?
Thinking about the outcome of the discovery also helps here. Drafting the output (e.g., a report, a presentation) will help you think through the must-do/ should-do tasks to be done, and the (3-4) critical questions to address.
Which clients you interview is often role or seniority based. Do your own online research but also confer with your team/ client on who they are, which questions you want them to answer, and what might compel them to engage.
To secure the interviews you need (in the timeline you have), have the right person send it (often the client sponsor) and write a clear, compelling note e.g. the meeting is to do x, which impacts their role / area. You want to ask y and will put time in.
During:
Depending on the context, client / stakeholder interviews are structured (e.g. risk assurance review) or semi-structured (e.g. everything else). Whether 30-60 minutes, prepare 10 questions and expect to cover 2-4. So order logically, by criticality.
We all know first impressions are key. Seconds 10-60 set the tone of the interview. The peak and the ending are key going forward (i.e., for more time, data points, and support,). The usual flow is a warm-up to learn more about them, and their context. An overview of the project goals (linked to their business goals). Then a dance towards the ‘peak’ of the conversation (your key questions). Plan how you will close.
Often, the interviewer must also inform the interviewee (e.g. to test an option / idea). This doesn’t mean you hog the air time. It’s not about “telling”, it’s about phrasing what you want to say as a question. Clear and succinctly please.
A good interview feels engaging to all parties. All the techniques (active listening, asking why, asking for examples etc.) are to give them space to verbalise and reframe a perspective. While helping you understand what they said (and what they didn’t say).
After:
Make your follow-up/ thank-you note stand out by referring to a quote/ topic that struck you and seemed to be very important to them.
Interviews tend to happen out of ideal sequence. You learn/ hear things later that you wished you had explored with an earlier interviewee. Anticipate this and tee up the opportunity to reconnect at the end of the interview or in your follow-up.
The next step is to analyse all the qualitative data that came out of your interviews. This tends to happen when creating the write-up. The team will search for quotes and eyeball the spreadsheet of compiled notes to find insights.
This is typically an inefficient mess... That’s why we created Discy.ai
Conclusion.
An interview with a client/ stakeholder is a two-way exchange to spark ideas and insights. For the client it is an opportunity to reflect on the situation as they articulate it.
For the consultant it is an opportunity to better grasp the context of your client's situation and to explore several questions that will help you derive the root challenge, and the best solution for it.