ITA - Commercial Services Program Clients Qualitative Interviews

OMB CONTROL NO. 0690-0030

Expiration Date: 4/30/2014

International Trade Administration

Qualitative Client Interviews

Pre-recruitment and Interview Guide for:

Service Enhancement Research

Pre-recruitment script: Hello. My name is [researcher name] and I am calling from the U.S. Commercial Service’s Process Improvement Team. We are looking at ways to improve [service name] and since you have used this service in the past, we would like to hear your opinions on our proposed changes to [service name]. May I set a 45 minute appointment to discuss our ideas with you? Is [date, time] convenient for you? Great. A program manager from our Process Improvement Team will call you on [agreed upon date and time] at [phone number]. We can send you an e-mail reminder. Is [read e-mail address] the best address to use? We have also created some new report templates and related materials. May I send these to you by e-mail so that you can refer to them during our discussion? Thank you very much. We look forward to speaking with you on [date].

Interview Guide

Hello. I am [name] from the U.S. Commercial Service’s Process Improvement Team. I’d like to talk to you about some ideas for improving [service name].

1. Let’s start by discussing your thoughts about our [service name].

Probe:

• How effective was it in achieving your objectives?

• What did you like best about it?

• What did you like the least?

2. Based on your experience, what are some things we can do to improve the effectiveness of [service name]?

3. Let’s look at the [service deliverable, such as report] and talk about what works and what needs to be improved. Starting with [first section] Please tell me:

• What works / what you like / what is helpful

• What would you like to change / eliminate / add

[Repeat for all appropriate deliverable sections]

4. Now I’d like to talk about [revision 1/template 1]. We are considering making these changes. What would you think about [service name] if we did make these changes?

Probe:

• How effective do you think this would be in achieving your objectives?

• What do you like best about it?

• What do you like the least?

Let’s discuss the individual changes, starting with [specify the first point to cover]. Should we implement this change?

Probe:

• Why do you say that?

• Would this be an improvement over the current situation? How so?

• What can we do to make it better?

[Repeat for all appropriate revisions]

Thank you very much. I greatly appreciate your time and your recommendations. Your input will be very useful to us as we make improvements to this service.

Public reporting for this collection of information is estimated to be 45 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. All responses to this collection of information are voluntary, and will be provided confidentiality to the extent allowed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless that collection of information displays a current valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Reports Clearance Officer, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, Room 4001, 14th and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230.