The reporter was sincere in trying to determine how people like us get the information we need from our customers. I just found the use of the word "pump" to be a bit distracting  and old fashioned. "Learn" would have been a better approach. However, before it appears in print elsewhere, here is the response I gave.

Professional, consultative salespeople do this on a regular basis and usually limit the information to what they need to make a sale. However, the same professional (advanced) sales principles also apply to learning all types of information.

For 25 years I have been teaching CEOs, sales executives and sales professionals how to do this. Vistage www.vistage.com , the world's largest membership organization for CEOs, has invited me to speak 700 times on this topic and has named me "Impact Speaker of the Year". This is an area where I have expertise and experience. You might benefit from this.

There is a process to follow:

1.       What do you really want to know? Too many surveys are looking for endorsements, not critiques. When respondents offer constructive ideas, they are met with defensive and explanatory responses. At that point, most respondents shut down and engage in "happy talk" or go silent. Really wanting to know what the customer is thinking requires humility, sincerity and curiosity.

2.       Who has the information? Based on what you want to know, who is in the best position to give you the best insights? If you want to know how your company/product/service is being utilized, you might want to ask a technician or entry-level employee in the client's organization. If you want to know what the real impact of your cost savings are on the customer's bottom line, the purchasing agent is the wrong person to ask. Instead, try to meet with the CEO, CFO or other person who has access to and appreciates that effect.

3.       Why would they tell you? The basic question for anything we want someone else to do is: "Why is it in their best interest that they _________?" Just as the salesperson must determine why it is in the customer's best interest to buy from them, we need to determine why the customer would see value in giving us the information we seek. How will the customer benefit from giving away some insights they have? Once determined, this must be communicated early in the conversation with the customer. For instance, when asking for their time the asker might say something like, "In order to better serve you could you answer a few brief questions?" An even better approach is to be more specific based on knowledge of the customer: "For Acme Widgets to reach ISO certification, you will need shorter lead times from vendors like us. If we could spend a few minutes together we can see how some of our capabilities could be utilized to serve you better."

4.       Follow-up. A valuable step that is often overlooked is the follow up. Give the customer a summary or detailed copy of your findings and ask for any corrections. This causes the customer to revisit the conversation. When we hear our own words coming back to us we sometimes change or clarify them. Giving feedback also demonstrates sincerity and shows that we value and will act on the information.

From this process, develop your questions. Begin with simpler questions and ask the tougher ones later. It is usually better to begin with multiple choice, Likert Scale (1 - 5, for instance) or True/False. These simpler questions break the ice. Then move to open-ended questions that elicit more comprehensive information. 

If you've attended my seminars you'll recognize that two significant concepts are missing from this: the 25% Rule for surveying and the use of the Questioning Concepts from P.L.U.S.H Selling. After all, I can't give away everything - it would lose its value! 

What would you like to know from your customers you do not know now? Why not educate yourself?