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I was recently asked to provide the definition of a focus group, how to conduct a focus group interview, and what is the purpose of focus group interviews.
I was recently asked to provide the definition of a focus group, how to conduct a focus group interview, and what is the purpose of focus group interviews.
Focus groups are forums used to gather qualitative data on the customer experience.
This is a widely used marketing tool that helps organizations develop products and services that are influenced by participating customers.
As products and services improve consumer expectations change.
This causes the bar to be continually raised – making it important to understand this changing customer perspective.
Focus group research is used to develop or improve products or services.
The main purpose is to provide data to enhance, change, or create a product or service that targets a key customer group.
The value of the information gathered is dependent on defined objectives and the preparation done prior to conducting the focus group interviews.
Focus Group Definition
A focus group is basically research that organizations do to gather information.
These sessions with consumers are used to solicit the customer’s perspectives and opinions about new ideas, products, or services either being offered or in product development.
Focus group participants are asked questions in an interactive setting and are encouraged to discuss thoughts freely with other participants.
The open forum discussions generate ideas that can provide a wealth of information about products and services from a customer’s perspective. Business owners use this information to improve products and services.
Focus Group Objectives
Organizations use focus groups to gather customer insight into current or prospective products, services, or ideas.
A defined objective for the focus groups helps to ensure you gather targeted, helpful information.
Focus group interviews should be incorporated into an organization’s strategy for customer service, marketing, or product development and should have very defined goals.
For example, I worked with a pediatric hospital that was trying to improve the customer experience for parents of hospitalized children.
We performed a focus group and gleaned information from parents about the accommodations that were available for parents.
The results of the focus group interviews helped us design parent lounges that met the unique needs of parents who often spend days, weeks or even months with a sick child in the hospital.
Focus Group Design
There can be focus groups for anything – product focus groups, service improvement focus groups, or merely idea generation.
So whether your organization is developing a new website, wanting feedback on the customer service of the organization, or simply trying to find new ways to improve the employee experience – a well-planned focus group – with clear objectives – can help flush out the answers.
Begin with defining the objective of the focus group and build the strategy around the objective.
For example, let’s say you own a dry cleaner and you developed a new delivery service for your customers only to realize that the service is not being utilized as you had hoped.
You may decide to conduct a focus group to find out why. The objective of this focus group might be – “increase the number of customers utilizing delivery service by determining barriers to use.”
What is the ideal number of Focus Group participants?
The whole point of gathering focus group participants is to get as many different ideas and perspectives as possible.
You want to have a manageable group because if there are too many people it will limit your ability to get ideas from all participants.
Keep in mind that more is not necessarily better in this case.
The ideal size group is 8-10 people, depending on the demographic and topic being researched.
Group sizes can have as many as 12-15 participants but require a strong moderator to facilitate that many people.
Focus group participants should be selected based on their familiarity with a product, service, or purchasing behaviors.
It is also recommended to facilitate three or four different groups to ensure a good respondent mix of perspectives and ideas.
Focus Group Questions
Questions asked of group participants should be based on the objectives of the project.
You want to start with a high-level question and then drill down for specifics.
For example, if the focus group objective is to determine why customers do not use a dry cleaner delivery service, questions might be:
- Do you dry clean your clothes?
- Do you use dry cleaners to dry clean your clothes?
- How do you select a dry cleaner?
- What services do you look for in a dry cleaner?
- Have you ever used a dry cleaner delivery service? If no, why not?
- How much would you be willing to pay for this delivery service?
- Can you tell us about your experience when using the delivery service?
Focus Group Cost
The cost of a focus group includes a few things – paying a moderator, a facility for the sessions, food, and supplies.
Paying someone outside of the organization to moderate the focus group can provide the most objective results but can be a financial investment.
A trained focus group moderator will charge a fee for her services.
These services include things like a discussion of session objectives, creation of interview questions, help to identify participants, help locating a venue for the sessions, moderating the session, and a summary of the focus group findings.
There are also certain demographics of customers that may require a fee for participation, which can increase the cost of the research.
Therefore, it is important to develop a focus group plan with very defined objectives and budget, before deciding to do this type of customer research.
Products and services are continually improving to respond to the changing needs of consumers.
Focus groups are a great way to drill down on these changing customer needs and identify new products and services for consumers.
If you have never held a focus group with your customers, or prospective customers, there may be things that you don’t know that your competitor does.
When was the last time you sat down with your customers and tried to learn something?