OPINION30 November 2009

More surveys or more balance!

A greater balance of qual and quant is needed, not more surveys

Having just been phoned up by yet another research company that seems to get around the telephone preference list, I would like to ask the question are we reaching a saturation point in customer research?  At the end of the day if all you get from your responses is a fatigued ‘yeah it was OK’ or responses from consumers who have the biggest gripe, how much can you trust their representativeness or even their veracity! 

Flashier or shorter surveys don’t quite do it for me.  Instead, perhaps what we need is not to replace existing surveys but look for balance in the qualitative, immersion approach or the customer depth interview: note I only raise this as a provocation, but still I am unconvinced that the law of big numbers is a panacea against all sins by itself.

For me then what we should be doing is not typecasting people into ‘Quals’ and ‘Quants’ but ensuring a greater balance between the two. But perhaps due to the unnatural division of research into silos, I don’t see this balance being brought to the fore. Yet I would much rather hear from ‘Quali-Quants’ or even better ‘people who can interpret the data’; the last point is of course a particularly ‘old chestnut’ and essentially says how can we become more consultancy orientated?

Nonetheless in a world increasingly awash with data this is becoming even more valid which is why I believe consultancy and research should become closer.

So by all means measure, but also seek to understand. Ask yourself the question not only what is our satisfaction score but what is the experience of our company, would I be a customer of my own firm?’ 

@RESEARCH LIVE

3 Comments

14 years ago

"yet another research company that seems to get around the telephone preference list" Survey calls are exempt from the TPS – or are you referring to MR agency sales calls?

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14 years ago

Couldn't agree more. The industry seems determined to head further and further down the counter-productive "qual vs. quant" route - a distinction which inhibits insight and may explain our struggle to transition into 'consultancy'. We need to take on a more holistic approach - I would be very keen to hear from others who are developing or applying a wider range of creative and responsive techniques of investigation.

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14 years ago

Hi Brian Thanks for your comment. You are strictly correct of course but i would suggest that most customers do not see it like that. I think they would say 'im on the TPS' so why am i getting this call... the differentiation between sales and research is lost on them, its unsolicited that for them is enough. From an inside-out point of you, you are correct but from an outside-in point of you, a customer viewpoint, they do not see it like that. It is an annoyance.

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