Editor’s note: Wendy Jones is vice president of client services, Sky Alland Marketing, Columbia, Md.

Designing an effective telephone interview is a crucial part of every marketing research effort. In many ways, the success of the program depends on an interview that captures the right data, is easily and positively administered to customers and prospects, and does so effectively from the first day the program goes on-line. Of course, the real art is in designing a conversation around the consumer.

There is no hard and fast definition of a good telephone interview, but a good interview should measure all the right things and do so efficiently. The script should flow smoothly and the questions should be conversational. The interview should be brief and the questions clear, straightforward and not leading or repetitive. Above all else, the interview should be designed around the customer and his or her needs.

When our firm, Sky Alland Marketing, starts a new customer relationship management (CRM) or marketing research program with a client, designing the interview is one of the first steps. Although not all CRM programs use an "interview" per se (some programs serve to welcome customers, manage leads or fulfill product or literature requests) telephone interviews are crucial to any relationship marketing program with research objectives.

While interview design varies depending on program objectives, the client and, of course, the customer, the following are basic steps we follow in the interview scripting process.

Our first step is usually to arrange a planning meeting with the client to discuss the goals of the program and what they want to accomplish with the interview. These will vary depending on the kind of program they are initiating. It could be customer satisfaction measurement, marketing research, customer retention, channel management or some other type of customer relat...