Client interviews

by Sally Bouorm | October 1, 2010 10:28 am

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By Brian Van Bower

Creating pools and spas carries us onto the properties and into the private lives of clients, often on a personal, intimate level. As such, getting to know clients to the best of one’s ability is of great importance. Invariably, this means asking the right questions and knowing how to listen to and interpret their answers.

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Of course, this is a vast topic, one that comes easily to some but is far more difficult for others to master. However, regardless of your position, personality or locale, early client communication—the process of interviewing them to discover all you can about them—is something that requires forethought, care and close ongoing attention.

This topic, which was covered in a short seminar at last year’s Canadian Pool & Spa Conference & Expo and other conferences around the world, has generated several inquiries from attendees looking to delve into it further. Inquiring minds know the ability to communicate with clients is an essential building block of success in designing and building water environments—or, for that matter, in any endeavour for which making clients happy is the ultimate goal. What many professionals need is some mortar to hold a few of those blocks together.

A two-way street

One of the first skills anyone needs to master to be an effective interviewer is the art of keeping your mouth shut and ears open. In other words, to be an effective interviewer, you must be an effective listener. While this may seem obvious, many of us are actually quite bad at listening properly.

It is human nature to want to impress others with the things we say. Instead of actively listening while clients answer questions, many professionals spend too much time thinking about how they will react and respond to what’s being said. It’s as if our silence makes us uncomfortable.

No matter what, you must resist this impulse and learn to listen. Perhaps you’ll have to bite your lip (literally or figuratively) or run through some mental exercises to remind yourself to actually listen to what your clients are saying. Whatever method you choose, it’s absolutely necessary.

Also, you must never forget that a big part of listening is actually retaining what your clients say. When listening carefully, it is easier to retain the information on some level; however, it is wise to take notes as the client is speaking. These can then be kept on file as a reminder of what was said, what words or ideas were emphasized and how certain things were phrased. Some designers record these conversations; others take notes and make recordings. Again, you must find a method that works for you.

Finally, when you conduct client interviews, you must be completely present. This means turning off (or at least ignoring) your cell phone, removing the Bluetooth device from your ear and stepping away from the rest of the world. This shows clients that you respect their time and are focused entirely on their needs and desires.

This mental preparation and commitment will set your interviews up to be as productive as possible. This is a constantly evolving process. Try different methods and listen to other designers and contractors, adopting elements of their approach that appeal to you. Once you’ve established your own basic approach, you can focus on the interview itself.

Digging deep

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Sending out a pre-interview questionnaire can help guide the discussion when you and your clients meet face to face. In some cases, you can use the responses to begin forming design ideas. This step purposely gets clients’ creative juices flowing, prompting them to begin thinking in a more focused way about what they really want.

The questionnaire can begin by offering a list of words describing various characteristics associated with swimming pools and other water features. Ask the client to pick the five adjectives they most prefer and highlight one term that stands out among all the rest. The list could include words such as: curvilinear, flowing, natural, rectangular, geometric, modern, architectural, clean, bright, decorative, peaceful and playful, among many others. Then, ask a string of key questions, such as:

• Do you have a favourite garden or landscape?
• What’s your favourite country or city to which you’ve travelled?
• What is it about that city or country that you find especially beautiful or inspirational?
• Do you have a favourite artist, architect or landscape architect?
• Are there specific materials you’d like to use in your landscape?
• Is there a local project or property you admire?
• From which rooms in the house would you like to be able to see your water feature?

Another vital question to include is, ‘How interested are you in participating in this project?’ The options:

1. Not at all—you’re the expert, you take care of it;
2. Minimal—I’ll complete the questionnaire, but that’s about it;
3. Average—I’ll discuss options and possibilities; and
4. Extensive—I’ll personally decide most details.

Finally, try to include a few questions aimed at determining the client’s familiarity with their home’s architecture and design style. Ask them to pick descriptions from a list of supplied choices, ranging from colonial and craftsman to contemporary and Spanish colonial. Finally, ask about colour preferences (both favourites and those they dislike).

Your pre-interview questionnaire should also be a constantly evolving document; you can adopt specifics from the outline above or discard those you feel are unnecessary or irrelevant. No matter the specifics, a good questionnaire should be capable of gleaning a great deal of critical information from clients before ever sitting down with them. Many clients actually enjoy filling them out. It’s a wonderful way for them to get engaged in the process and share some of their preferences.

Time to talk

All of this, of course, is a prelude to the interview itself. When meeting with a client, try starting with a series of questions some might consider being unnecessary such as, “How long have you lived here?” or, as a follow up, “Where did you come from?” to help the client feel relaxed, comfortable and ready to open up to you. There are often strong narratives at the heart of every great design. These stories support the concepts that make it onto the page and, eventually, into the project itself. Your goal should be to encourage your clients to share them with you.

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Once everyone is at ease, get down to business by asking them what motivated them to seek you services—simply put, ‘Why are we here?’ At this stage, you can determine primary motivations and, in cases where the clients are a couple or a group of people, you can find out which individual is truly driving the process.

You might learn, for example, that a client’s doctor has recommended swimming as therapy for a bad back, or that the client has always dreamed of entertaining by a beautiful swimming pool because of childhood experiences or a recent vacation. This single line of inquiry provides absolutely critical information that shapes everything that follows.

At this point, you can change things up by asking how the client found you and your company. On one level, this should help you determine if your marketing efforts are effective. More importantly, however, it can reveal much about the clients themselves.

If, for example, they say they found you in the Yellow Pages even though you’ve never placed a listing there, you can uncover a client’s interesting relationship with the truth. If they reached you by referral, you can make an entirely different set of assumptions. After all, birds of a feather do tend to flock together. If they’ve seen your work, liked it and contacted you because of a positive recommendation from a friend or business associate, it can tell you a great deal about the scope of the project (and sometimes even the budget).

Finding out who referred the new client can also be useful, as it allows you to call up the past client to express your appreciation, which often leads to a discussion about the new client. Sometimes, past clients will even share what they know about the new clients’ characters, giving you an idea about who you’ll be dealing with (e.g. someone who’s extremely picky or, conversely, quite easygoing).

Finding the payoff

Next, it’s time to address one of the most important issues to be covered in any interview: How do the clients plan on using their pool, spa or water feature? While there are many important issues to address in an interview, this may actually be the most significant, as it needs to be pursued in depth.

Start by asking how many family members will be using the pool/spa on a regular basis.  If there are children at home, find out how many there are, their ages and their general activity levels. Beyond the answers, keep your eyes and ears open for other clues that could inspire the design. If, for example, the home is filled with pictures of kids engaged in baseball, soccer, cheerleading or scouting, you can rest assured the family is active and engages in activities outside of the home.

Conversely, you may visit a home in which kids are too wrapped up in video games to notice your presence, indicating they are more sedentary. Family photos depicting vacations can also provide insight, depending on where most of the shots were taken (e.g. the tropics, mountains, historic sites, etc.). If you’re paying attention, you should be able to come away with a pretty good idea of how the family spends its time together—which, in turn, will give you an indication of how they will likely use recreational water features around their home.

It’s also important to determine who outside the immediate family will likely use the pool/spa. Does the client have an extended family that will visit frequently? Will those relatives bring the kids along as well? Do the children in the home have active social lives that would lead them to invite friends over for casual swimming, as well as the occasional pool party?

What all of this becomes is a pile of information related to the basic issue of how the water will be used. Once the clients are thinking along these lines, it is much easier for them to start visualizing the end result of the project; that is, to see all the ways in which their pool, spa or water feature will be used. This type of visualization is a powerful tool.  Once clients are thinking in these terms, it is also easier to get more detailed answers from them. You are also able to draw them more deeply into the process, generating even more anticipation and excitement.

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Simply asking a bland question (e.g. ‘How will you use the pool?’) will typically provoke a bland reply (e.g. ‘For exercising.’). However, getting clients to visualize their future relationship with the water will help them see beyond their initial concepts to broader water-oriented opportunities. In plain terms, these responses provide potentially critical information that goes far beyond any non-visualized reaction. As these conversations progress, clients will open doors they had never considered, incorporating everything from an outdoor kitchen to a lounging shelf to an outdoor entertainment centre.

In a nutshell, a doctor’s basic recommendation of aquatic exercise morphs into a vision of poolside entertaining, parties for the kids, a relaxing soak in the spa with good friends or watching reflections off the water as the sun sets. What was once a practical endeavour becomes a matter of the seductiveness of the space.

The interview becomes a collaboration, and you’re all working together to shape the story of the finished project. Not only will you walk away with great information to define your design ideas, you will also set the stage for further discussions of configurations, materials and the host of other details that will come together as the project moves along.

The big picture

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Our clients come to us out of a desire for luxury, pleasure, prestige, excitement and beauty. They are, at heart, seeking their own slices of the good life.

Our job—which starts from the first moment we make contact with a client—is to avoid doing anything that will disrupt this good mood. We should also do everything we can to amplify those positive feelings and desires. By prompting clients to imagine the joy and pride they’ll have in their homes when all is said and done, we’re doing all we can to help them see the future in a bright, sunny light.

 

 

 

Brian Van Bower has more than 40 years of professional experience in the swimming pool and spa industry. He is president of Aquatic Consultants Inc., a Miami, Fla.-based international consulting/design firm specializing in upscale and unusual pool and waterscape designs. Van Bower is also president and co-founder of Genesis 3 Design Group, an international company specializing in progressive education and instruction for those involved in the design, engineering and construction of swimming pools, spas, water features and outdoor living areas. He can be reached at bvanbower@aol.com[7] or via www.aquaticconsultantsinc.com[8].

Source URL: https://www.poolspamarketing.com/trade/client-interviews/

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