In-depth interviewing is a valuable qualitative research methodology for B2B marketers. It can be used to gain insight on a variety of issues from needs assessment and product development to strategic planning. This open-ended, discovery oriented method allows marketers to elicit a vivid and deep perspective on a participant’s perceptions, beliefs and experiences.

This four-part blog is designed to better understand this research methodology and provide helpful information on conducting effective in-depth interviews. Part one will focus on the attributes/skills of a good interviewer. They include:

Good Listener - to insure information is clearly understood requires the interviewer to actively listen to what a participant is saying. This not only means paying close attention to what is being said but also employing paraphrasing and reflecting techniques to insure what a participant is saying is clearly understood.

Curious and Open Minded - good interviewers have a natural sense of wonder about the world around them. They must come to the interviewing process without any pre-conceived notions or agendas. Their role is to seek information in a non-biased and non-judgmental way.

Keen Observer - to fully understand what is being communicated requires looking beyond what a person is saying and picking up on non-verbal behavior and visual cues. These will provide additional context for things like: depth of feeling, state-of-mind, etc.

Engaging and Trustworthy - rapport needs to be established quickly with participants to create a “friendly” environment conducive to free-flowing conversation that yields high-value data. Skilled interviewers understand that this environment is fragile and work hard to maintain it throughout the interview.

Mentally Agile - in-depth interviews include follow-up questions and probes to get at the desired information. This requires quick-thinking on the part of the interviewer. While actively listening to the participant, the interviewer needs to always be mentally processing what the appropriate next question should be to keep the interview on-track.

Other attributes/skills like patience and being fully-present in a conversation make up “the right stuff” to be successful interviewer.

Part two of our four-part series on in-depth interviewing will cover the strengths of this qualitative research methodology versus focus groups.