Three types of Primary Interviewees that Consultants come across

As they say, consultants are not scientists; they largely thrive on collective wisdom. And one of the major sources of this collective wisdom is “primary interview”. By primary interview, I mean the one-to-one interactions that you have with people who may be SME (subject matter experts), competitors, customers or other stakeholders. I must say that these primary interviews have been one of the most reliable sources of information for me especially with the secondary data sources being inadequate or simply unreliable.

In this post, I will discuss three types of interviewees that I have come across quite often during my exposure to consulting. Surprisingly, I have come across at least one of each type, during each of my project. I will also try to come up with recommendations that may help you ace the interview or make the most of it.