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Oral	 surveys	 more	 accurately	 show	 exactly	 what	 the	 person	 being	 interviewed
thinks	and	feels.

   For	a	dozen	reasons,	conduct	oral	surveys,	not	written	ones.

The	One	Question	You	Should	Never	Ask

	

What	don’t	you	like	about	the	company	or	the	service?”
   Don’t	ask	that.
   You’re	 asking	 someone	 to	 admit	 they	 made	 a	 bad	 decision	 in	 choosing	 that

company.	People	won’t	do	that;	people	like	to	look	smart.
   Never	ask	“What	don’t	you	like?”

Focus	Groups	Don’t

	

A	typical	discussion:
   “We	need	some	information.”
   “OK,	let’s	do	a	focus	group.”
   It’s	 very	 tempting	 to	 summon	 focus	 groups.	 For	 one	 thing,	 the	 term	 “focus

groups”	 is	 clever	 packaging.	 A	 “survey”	 sounds	 like	 something	 that	 only	 gives
you	 the	 lay	 of	 the	 land.	 “Focus	 group,”	 by	 contrast,	 sounds	 like	 something	 that
gets	you	zeroed	in.

   Or	so	you	would	think.
   But	 you	 are	 selling	 individuals,	 not	 groups.	 Focus	 groups	 tell	 more	 about
group	 dynamics	 than	 about	 market	 dynamics.	 Control	 types	 take	 over	 focus
group	sessions	and	try	to	persuade	the	others.	The	wise	but	shy	types	sit	quietly,
waiting	 for	 the	 hour	 to	 end.	 People’s	 views	 get	 changed	 and	 distorted	 by	 other
people’s	views.
   You’re	selling	individuals.Talk	to	individuals.
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