Over the last 5 years we’ve interviewed hundreds of people on behalf of our clients. Usually to find out where our clients can improve as well as produce case studies and testimonials.

In other cases because we’re writing marketing material and want to find out from the horse’s mouth (your clients) what’s really going on.

Barbara just finished three different ones and the results have been enlightening for each client.

In one case, time after time we heard the same story. Interviewees were worried about succession planning for the business and what would happen should the business principal retire. They didn’t realise he had a team working with him even though he’d tried to communicate this over the years.

In another case an interviewee stated categorically that while she “loved” the service and the principal involved, she thought the office premises didn’t represent him professionally and she had a lot of trouble getting past this.

In fact it took her about three years before becoming a client and she stated she wouldn’t recommend him to certain people who she thought couldn’t see past the outer appearance.

And finally, the client in a totally different industry where we found a bunch of raving fans who gave us a huge amount of quantifiable facts to write material from.

From this we can write material which goes out to their market with a bunch of case studies which prove beyond a shadow of a doubt these people deliver value and truly excellent customer service.

And if we’d never taken the trouble to call their clients, they’d never have known just what an impact they have on their market.

The sad thing is, most businesses don’t invest in gathering this crucial information. Or if they do, they decide to use an online survey tool (of which there are many).

But ask yourself this. When was the last time you really took the trouble to fill out an online survey? Really put down answers in depth? And how on earth could a written survey pick up nuances and drill down deeper to find out the truth?

The answer to the first part is probably never. As to the second part, there’s nothing like being interviewed by a skilled person who teases out information.

As a client said to us the other day, “Thanks for this… It is amazing what people will say to a third person but for some reason don’t feel comfortable saying directly!”

Interesting though, often the most important thing is not the feedback you get, but the fact that your clients really appreciate your taking the trouble to ask their opinion. They feel more valued as they don’t believe you take them for granted.

And even more fascinating is how much time many will end up spending with us on the phone.

Interviewees who’ve started by saying, “I only have 5 minutes”, sometimes end up spending 40 to 50 minutes on the phone! Barbara is a very skilled interviewer and people find it very easy to talk to her and open up. A rare skill which she learned and honed over the years.

Remember the wise saying, “I don’t care how much you know, until I know how much you care”. Having a qualified, experienced third party conduct interviews shows your clients you really care about them and their opinions. And they love you for it.

If you’d like to know more about the process and what you get, head over to https://revealedresources.com/marketing-services/client-interviews. As part of this service, we also take your client’s positive comments and make them into a testimonial which you can use in all your marketing – website, brochures, sales letters etc.

Book yourself in by calling us on (02) 9499-7958.

Remember you don’t know what you don’t know. And even if you suspect something is going on, it’s better to have it confirmed.

Rashid.

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