Interviewing Customers No. 2

My first round of interviews were focused on relationships with family members, friends and significant others. This time, I focused on the bond between the interviewee and their dog and an idea product for the pets hair shedding. I focused more on the product and worked myself up to the potential customers, unlike the first interviews I did. I chose to key in on pets especially dogs because I notice that a lot of people have them and they always want the best for their pets. Having a dog myself I know how frustration and annoying at times their hair shedding could be.

The participants I interviewed last time were picked at random and willingness to participate. This time, the participants were still at random but easier to talk to because the topic at hand was not on a personal basis but a common problem everyone with a pet could relate to. This time was also different in the sense that my population was smaller than the first time, but it is still big enough to create a product. However, I had to be more selective in who I interviewed because of the product I was asking about.

During this interview, I made big changes compared to the first interview. My questions were more centered on the idea of dealing with the pet’s hair shedding instead of general questions about their relationship with others. This time around I knew who my potential customers would be and I targeted them, unlike the first time where anyone who was willing to participate got interviewed. I also tried to give some potential information about the product to make it a more real scenario to the customer.

Here are the set of questions I asked this time around:

1) What is your name and your pet's name?

2) Is your dogs shedding a problem? If so, how do you deal with it?

3) What would you say if I were to tell you there is a new medication on the market that controls and reduces your pet's shedding up to 90%?

Information given: It’s a pill your pet takes orally and researchers are looking to see if it could last anywhere from 3 to 6 months.

4) How much would you be willing to invest in this medication?

Doing interviews now was easier than the first time and my participants were more willing to participate this time around. I felt that the types of questions I was asking helped because we were discussing the pet and not the owner personal connection with other people. This time, they were more interested because it was an unmet need that they have and the idea I came up with could be a potential solution. After conducting the interviews, I want researchers to actually see if such pill is possible because of the positive feedback I got from the interviews.

Three tips I would offer students for next semester would be

1)    Be confident

2)    Do not get discourage with the first couple of people say no to the interview

3)    It is easier if you connect to the people you are interviewing, If you both have the same or similar situation the interview with flow smoothly