We all know how important it is to keep in touch with your customer-base in order to make sure they are satisfied, to understand them better, to test interest of new ideas, and so on. When conducting market research, there are quite a few advantages telephone surveying will provide over other methodologies (such as web surveys or mail surveys). Here are some of the benefits phone surveys should be recognized for:
1) Increased quality control. By using experienced callers to administer surveys you are creating an additional filter for quality control. This will ensure not only that respondents are properly answering the questions and interpreting the question correctly, but also that any issues or concerns with the script and research process are immediately brought to the attention of the research team.
2) Boosted response rate. It’s much easier to say no to a web or mail survey. Our experience here in the Bunker has time after time again shown that telephone surveys conducted among customers (and even non-customers) will provide a better response rate than web or mail in most scenarios. When you are calling somebody to conduct a phone survey, it forces them to set aside the time to take the survey. There is some level of convenience with being able to take the survey right then and there. As simple as a web survey and a mail survey might to be fill out, you don’t have to worry about Internet connectivity issues or instructions to return the survey in the mail.
3) An added personal touch. Conducting phone surveys with customers carries with it the added benefit of a personal touch. Phone surveying lets the customer know that the business really cares about hearing their feedback. It also allows a business to ensure satisfaction or take any possible wrongs, and turn them into rights (before the customer tells everyone they are dissatisfied).
4) An in-between methodology. Phone surveying is a happy medium between face-to-face surveying and web/mail surveys, with regards to both anonymity and survey-taking obligations. There is a level of anonymity over the phone, which allows people to be more open and forthcoming with their responses. In addition, by talking with somebody first-hand (over the phone), there is an on-the-spot expectation to properly answer the questions.
Interested in commissioning a telephone survey to answer critical question with your customers? Give RMS a call at 315-635-9802 to chat about our call center in Syracuse, NY and our market research services. You can also email SandyB@RMSresults.com.
Good benefits here Chris, one other benefit I always seem to consider when discussing the telephone methodology is the ability to probe. With an online survey or paper survey, once the respondent finishes a thought they can move to the next question. With a surveyor on the phone, it offers research firms the option of asking for more explanation or digging a little deeper on the answer.
[…] 1. “Would you jump off a bridge if everyone else did?” The time-tested advice saying you don’t have to do something just because everyone else is. We equate this to some of the new methodologies that are emerging in the marketing research industry. Just because a methodology or concept sounds new and trendy (e.g., crowdsourcing) doesn’t mean it’s right for your project or your client. Quite often, it can be best to stick with a proven and reliable methodology for conducting research. Even when all options are considered for a quantitative study – timeline, cost, deliverables – sometimes you just can’t be the data quality offered by a well-prepared telephone survey. […]
[…] It goes without saying but some level of pre-testing is a must before launching a full-scale survey. Survey Sampling International (SSI) defines a pre-test as a questionnaire that is tested on a statistically small sample of respondents before a full-scale study. The benefits of pre-testing cannot be overstated whether you go to the extent of a soft launch or not. The real issue is, in an industry where time is often of the essence and findings need to be turned around yesterday, it’s difficult to budget the time into a study to conduct a thorough pre-test. In some cases, one could argue a pre-test is not necessary, such as a renewal of a yearly survey, or an online survey that is only being sent to a small population. Here are some reasons as to why pre-testing your online survey is vital. Keep in mind, some of these benefits will also apply to other methodologies including phone surveys. […]
The fact that callers can identify problems with the survey makes a lot of sense. That way you’ll have an additional layer of quality control. Making sure people interpret the question correctly is valuable, too.