ABSTRACT
Qualitative methods for customer service measurement are a useful starting point for any research. They provide the organisation with a cross-section of views and opinions about the customer experience that can then be verified and substantiated using quantitative methods. This chapter discusses the exploratory research and its benefits. It explores projective techniques for focus groups and analyses the results of one-to-one interviews. The facilitator is highly influential in making the focus group run smoothly. It is advisable to use a trained facilitator to run the focus group. The popularity of focus groups has meant that variations are now run using new media options. With a structured approach, as with focus groups, the interviewer can ask a mixture of open and scalar questions. When using in-depth interviews as part of the research process after exploratory research, the interviewee can adopt a semi-structured or structured approach.
