A customer focus group can help an organization dive deep and explore customer feedback beyond the quantitative measurable data acquired through a survey.
As with any good qualitative market research, the questions you ask in a customer focus group should be focused on exploring topics.
These include thought-provoking questions and open-ended questions to generate discussion and dialogue.
The topic of this blog post is to help you choose or think about questions to ask in a customer focus group as part of your moderator's or facilitator's guide.
What are Customer Focus Groups?
Customer focus groups are a form of qualitative research aimed at exploring topics, mindsets, and perceptions.
The group discussion is centered around a dialogue with the moderator and participants. A guide is structured to move participants through sections of the discussion.
When it comes to a 60 minute to a 2-hour focus group with customers there are several questions you can ask.
Our New York focus group company shares our recommendations in the next section.
Example Customer Focus Group Questions
Here is an example of some questions to ask in a customer focus group.
- What word or phrase comes to mind when you think of the organization?
- What drives your negative, neutral, or positive opinion of the organization?
- How has your perception changed over the past 3 years? Why?
- What is the decision-making process like?
- What has been your experience using our product or service?
- How can we improve our product or service for you?
- What is the best way for our organization to communicate with you? Why?
- What improvements can be made with our loyalty program?
- How do you most commonly use our website? Explain the path you take.
- How can we improve our website user experience (UX)?
- Who do you think is the largest competitor to our organization? Why?
- What do our competitors do better than our organization?
- What does our organization do better than our competitors?
- How do you use our mobile app? How can we improve wayfinding?
- Do you purchase more or less from our organization than in the past? Why?
- What motivates you to make a purchase from our organization? Explain.
Other Recommendations for a Customer Focus Group
Focus group size and length
Although, every study is different our focus group company recommends group sizes stay between 4 to 12 participants.
Additionally, it is best if the discussion lasts between 60 minutes and 2 hours.
Provide an incentive
Our focus group firm has the best success in qualitative recruitment when participants are offered some type of incentive to participate. The reward can be a gift card, cash, or the product or service of your brand.
On average, participants are paid between $75 and $250 depending on the level of customer you are seeking for the groups.
For example, general consumers are less expensive to recruit than B2B decision-makers.
It is important to consider what incentive would be worth it for your customers to sit in a room for an hour or two providing their in-depth feedback.
Offer food and beverage onsite
Oftentimes a focus group facility or conference center offers food and beverages to entice participation.
This usually involves refreshments, light food, and snacks. Something as simple as water, soda, sandwiches, chips, and coffee.
Particularly if the groups run later in the evening, people could use a jolt of caffeine.
Consider an online focus group
In recent years, online focus groups have grown in popularity. The reason being they are commonly less expensive than in-person, traditional focus groups. There are no costs associated with renting a facility or paying for food and beverage.
Additionally, your organization can save money on the cost of incentives. While our online focus group company still recommends offering a reward for participating, the stipends are less high because there is less effort asked of the customer.
They do not have to travel to a focus group facility but instead offer their feedback from the comfort of their own home.
An online customer focus group is also a great option for organizations that have customers in many parts of the country. Instead of hosting four different focus groups in different states, your team can talk to each target market all at once.
Learn more about online focus groups in our ultimate guide.
Need Help Conducting a Customer Focus Group? Contact Drive Research.
Drive Research is a qualitative market research company located in Upstate NY. Our team manages in-person and online focus group projects for clients from across the country. This includes recruitment, moderating, facility booking, hosting, recordings, and reporting.
Interested in partnering with Drive Research? Contact our team in 1 of 4 ways:
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
George Kuhn
George is the Owner & President of Drive Research. He has consulted for hundreds of regional, national, and global organizations over the past 15 years. He is a CX certified VoC professional with a focus on innovation and new product management.
Learn more about George, here.
