Hi all. I work in a Local Authority and my service is undertaking a large scale Customer Fous project. As part of this I've been asked to facilitate a series of Customer Focus groups. Does anyone out there in TrainingZone land have any experience of this and what hints and tips do you have?
James Smith
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3 Responses
answer these questions and you will have generated your own hint
James
Sorry to be obtuse but:
Why are you undertaking this project?
What is the end goal?
Who are your “customers” are (this can be a real challenge in the public sector).
Do they know they are customers?
How will you “sample” your customer base?
How will you encourage your customers to take part in a focus group?
How/what will you feed back?
What will you do with the data you collect?
That should get you going!
Rus
http://www.coach-and-courses.com
Tips and Hints on Focus groups
Focus groups are highly planned and organized. Focus group numbers range from six to 15.
First, determine the location of the focus group. Many companies use internal conference rooms; others prefer off-site locations. Neutral locations can be helpful for avoiding any negative or positive associations.
Next, invite potential users or shareholders to a meeting at a specific time and location. Invitations must be enticing and demonstrate benefit for the user. People are very busy. They must understand why it is in their best interest to attend.
For more tips and hints, you can consult:
http://www.jedlet.com/find.product.asp?value=1-894922-88-3
Hope this helps!
Stay foucsed
The most productive groups will be well managed by you. Decide what you want to get out of the group before you start. Limit your self to a small number of headings/questions to give the group the opportunity to get into some detail.
If you have several topics then limit the time for each one otherwise you will find that the group will lose its focus and become more of a disucssion forum.
Make sure you have a good notetaker – there is nothing worse than finishing a session knowing that you had loads of good material and not being able to remember what it was.