Expert Interviews 6: Getting more information

A. Pressing for detail

Why press the expert? 

• Consultants need insight, not just information that's readily available.
• The expert may only be able to share general information about the industry, not specific information about their client. 
• Some have said it's like a sparring match. 

1. Getting quantifiable information by asking about the numbers in general.

• Can you give me a ballpark number?
  • I'd say, ballpark, around a million.
• I'm not looking for hard numbers, just in the general area.
  • Okay, not a hard figure, but around about a million. 
• If you had to say a percentage, what might you say?—Quite strong. Emphasize if and might.
  • If I had to? Maybe, ballpark, 11 or 12%?—emphasize had to show slight annoyance at being pressed.

2. If the expert is reluctant to share the specific information, you can ask for comparisons using closed questions. 

Strategy: short questions help because you don't want the expert to feel tentative about answering. You're almost tricking the expert into answering before thinking. 

• More than 10%? [Yes.]

• Closer to 2% or 20%? [20%]

• It's got to be more than 10%, right? [Right.]

Note: A great strategy is to continue a chain of yeses. 

• 10 years ago it was about half a million, right? [Yes.]
  • And then 5 years ago it was up to 750,000, I believe? [Yep.]
    • So, now it's got to be over a million, I suppose? [That's right.]

3. You can get the rationale or context for that number.

1. How did you arrive at that ballpark number?
2. How does that compare to:
   • 5 years ago?
   • the industry average?
   • the competition? 

Practice: Staffing at The English Farm. 

You do not have to give accurate information. 

Look at the schedule to see our current staffing. 

• Age—We actually don't keep this data on hand // We have a spread // from early 20s to late 60s. 
• Gender—We don't take it into account too much when hiring, but we aim for a 50/50 split. // It's pretty close to 50/50 right now. 
• Professional background (business background or teaching?)—This we pay attention to. Ideally, people have both. // A lot of our staff have both. // About a third have significant business experience.
• Location (Asia? North/South America? Europe?)—We have people all over the world. // Canada, America, Greece, Spain, Australia, New Zealand. // Most are in Montreal, Spain, and Greece. 
• Future hiring 
  • This year—Probably a few?
  • Next year—We're growing, so a significant amount for us // Perhaps a third of the workforce. 
  • In 3 years—It's hard to predict our pace of growth. // Hopefully, we'll double. 

B. Getting further detail

Many consultants won't admit they don't understand. Rather than admit it, they'll use two poor solutions: 

1. They record the interview and listen to it over and over to try and figure out what the expert said. 
   • It's a waste of time. You do save time (and save face) in the interview, but you end up working super late.
2. Or, they'll give the recording to their manager and let them figure it out! 
   • Don't add this to your manager's workload.

Practice: Your teacher will give you information about the population of New Zealand.

Read this as it is on the page. The point is for the student to not understand or not follow.

• New Zealand's population is nearly 5 million // 4.8 or 4.9 million.
  • The trend is exponential growth. 
    • Currently, immigration levels are 1.5% of the population.
    • Most countries wouldn’t come anywhere near 1%.
    • For context, immigration in Germany is 0.48% of the population. 
  • Why? Let's get some context. New Zealand’s population growth has been a slow burn. 
    • It reached a million by 1911, and topped 2 million in 1956. The next mil was reached in 1976, and then another in 2006, driven largely by natural growth.
    • Then the jump from 4 to 5 mil took just 14 years, rather than the previous 30. 
  • Forecast: Like I said, exponential growth.
  • Why? High immigration. [Use this chart to predict the future. Let your student push you for numbers nicely.]

C. Dealing with thick accents, bad connections, and jargon

The responsibility is on the interviewee to speak clearly and be understood. Direct the interviewee as such.

• Can I get you to say that again?
• I’m sorry, could I get you to speak a little slower? 
• It’s a bit hard for me to follow. Can you help me out by speaking a bit more clearly? 
• Sorry, I’m no expert in this. Can you rephrase what you just said? 

Practice: Your teacher will give you information about tourism in New Zealand, but the connection will be unstable. 

Mute and unmute your microphone quickly. Cut out key portions.

Reasons for tourism:

1. Outdoors

Hiking is very popular. The numbers hiking New Zealand's Great Walks, such as the Kepler and Milford tracks, have risen more than 30,000 in five years, from 80,000 in 2013 to about 112,000 today.

2. Employment

In 2019, there were 229,566 people directly employed in tourism (8.4% of the total number of people employed in New Zealand), an increase of 3.9% from the previous year.