We asked Janet, one of our most experienced recruiters, why should people participate in consumer research?
Did you ever have a fabulous experience at a store, restaurant, or hotel? What made the experience fabulous? Did you tell your friends and family about it? Did you the tell the business how pleased you were? When someone shares their positive experience, their word becomes the best advertisement for a business. We want our clients and respondents to be our best advertisement too. We want our clients to return and our respondents to share their experience with friends, which helps us to grow our data base with new respondents eager to share fresh thoughts and opinions.
There’s a saying, “a happy customer tells a friend, an unhappy customer tells the world.” We do our best to give respondents great experience so that they will deliver reliable, quality feedback to our clients.
As a consumer research recruiter, I use several techniques when looking for respondents. The first step for me is to attempt to make a personal connection with potential respondents. I try to strike up a brief conversation using the information I have about each person. I may ask about their career or family. I try to empathize when they share personal information with me.
I create excitement by reminding them of the benefits of participating in studies and focus groups. You can earn extra money, and sometimes receive free products. Your opinion about products and services helps companies to make important business decisions when developing new products and improving services. When you participate in issue related focus groups, your voice may affect change in your local community. I stress that they can make a difference.
When I am speaking with respondents, if I hear small children in the background, I might say something like “let me know if you need a minute to check on the kids.” When I recognize someone is driving, I offer a callback. I want the full attention of the respondent, and I want them to know I care.
I offer respondents the opportunity to ask questions and invite them to call back with questions and concerns. By keeping the door open we experience fewer miscommunications. I end the call by thanking them for their time and wishing them well. At the end of the day my job is to find respondents who give the client quality data.
By being honest, engaging, and caring, I do my best to find people who fit the clients’ needs. I treat respondents how I want to be treated. When I leave at night, I want to feel I have done my best for clients, respondents, and Eastcoast Research.
All of our recruiters are trained and experienced to fit the best participants for every study. We prioritize consistent training so our recruiting team can engage in any situation, whether it calling someone from our internal database or grassroot recruiting someone who has never heard of us. Let Eastcoast Research be your next recruiting vendor for your project!
