Like any new business skill, you will likely not be a master of VoC the very first time you try it, and like any other new business skill, practice will help you perfect the craft. The customer visits you are undertaking mean spending hours of time to find the right customers, identify the right contacts, and set up the meetings. Now you are spending money, both in time and expense, to go out and meet with your customer face to face. The absolute last thing you want to do is waste all this considerable time and expense because you do not want to practice your interview.

It is good to create teams in your organization and practice on some of your co-workers before setting out on your first interview. You will learn a lot, both in regards to your own capabilities and potential areas for improvement, as well as opportunities to brush up in the actual interview guide.

When you decide that you are finally ready, after practicing a number of times with your co-workers, you will also want to make sure you start the interview process with a few customers who are not the ones at the top of your prioritized list. If you are still going to stumble (after all the considerable practice you have done), it is better to do so with less important customers so your most critical customers see the close-to-perfect you.