Making re-screening phone calls, while underutilized, is a vital step in ensuring a market research project’s success.
Don’t fall into the trap of believing the qualitative recruiting process is complete after enough people have qualified through an emailed screener survey and signed up to participate.
The more one-on-one, personalized communication with participants the better! For this reason, personalized follow-up phone calls are an important part of various types of market research.
Below, our market research company explains the value of adding re-screening phone calls to your qualitative recruitment process.
Re-Screening Phone Calls are an Opportunity to Explain the Research
Emails are easy to send, which means they’re also easy to ignore, forget about, or miss.
When was the last time you received an email from a company you haven’t dealt with in years? You give them your email once and end up on an email list until you unsubscribe years later.
Participants may believe that they are one of a million when contacted to participate.
A customized phone call gives an opportunity to let participants know:
- The market research company and sponsor are counting on their feedback.
- Why their feedback is important to the objectives of the market research.
- What their feedback may be used for such as future products, services offerings, etc.
Follow-Up Phone Calls Allow Recruiters to Address Any Concerns
Follow-up phone calls also give an opportunity for the participant to review any areas of concern or issues before participating.
For example, say a qualitative recruiting company notices a participant hasn’t logged into a survey or homework assignment to begin the project.
They just assume the participant is uninterested in completing the study. As a result, the recruitment team removes them from the project.
Wrong! There is a better way.
In this situation, making a phone call could show the qualitative recruiting company that the participant was…
- Experiencing a technical issue keeping them from beginning the project.
- Waiting to receive further instruction.
- Confused about the next steps of the project.
- Communicating with a member from another team (such as tech support) and believes that we are aware.
Having a personalized phone call to the participant is an opportunity for everyone to get on the same page and resolve any issues keeping them from completing the project.
Follow-up Phone Calls Increase Completion Rates
Throughout my years in market research, I have heard the same phrase hundreds (possibly thousands) of times
“You don’t want my opinion”
Those without a research background may not understand the importance of their feedback - even if it’s negative or neutral.
Alternatively, participants may not realize how much third-party market research companies count on their feedback. They may be operating under the belief that we will get plenty of responses from others.
Letting participants know that their feedback is a priority increases the chance that they will follow through.
How does a re-screening phone call accomplish this?
- By adding a personalized touch in a follow-up call, participants understand that we are counting on them.
- It builds a mini-relationship with us, and in turn, they don’t want to let us down.
- Follow-up phone calls can also give an opportunity for the participant to review any areas of concern before participating.
Re-Screening Phone Calls Provide Further Insight into Your Contact List
You may send a list expecting full engagement from their clients, customers, or employees.
It’s also completely understandable to believe that your client, customer, or employee contact list is up to date.
However, that’s not always the case. When making follow-up phone calls, market research teams are able to provide further feedback on the status of the contact list.
Including follow-up phone calls also allows recruitment firms like Drive Research to provide insight on things like:
- Individuals no longer being the correct contact because of a changed job title or leaving a position
- Incorrect contact information
Re-Screening Phone Calls Share More Insight Into Contact Lists
Finally, and arguably the most important, follow-up phone calls provide a reminder to participate!
For instance, our market research firm experiences a higher completion rate than others because we have a multi-step confirmation and reminder process.
We use every form of communication available to us to ensure that participants remain on track to complete your project.
For every recruit, we utilize emails, calendar invites, and personalized calls and texts.
In the world of market research, there is no such thing as too much communication.
In a world where everything is automated, Drive Research takes the opposite approach. We make your study a success by adding a human touch and building a mini-relationship with each participant.
Where other market research firms may give a 1-800 number to a call center, we provide a single point of contact for your participant’s from the start of your project all the way to the finish line.
Need more tips and tricks? Watch our short video on 4 Tips for Qualitative Recruiting.
Contact Our Qualitative Recruiting Company
Drive Research is a full-service market research company, specializing in qualitative recruiting. Our team of market research recruiters follows a streamlined approach to assure our clients receive high-quality participants and near-perfect show rates.
Interested in learning more about our recruiting process? Ready to work with Drive Research? Contact us below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Ashley Reynolds
With nearly 10 years of experience in market research, Ashley has worked on countless quantitative and qualitative research studies. As a Fieldwork Manager at Drive Research, she’s involved in every stage of the project, especially recruitment.
Learn more about Ashley, here.
