Making bad decisions in business is expensive, so companies engage survey panel companies to conduct surveys for them to reduce market risk. By posing questions to those who are interested in their service, product, brand, or people who fit into a targeted demographic, a company can gain a lot of useful insight which can help them make informed business decisions.
Some large organizations have their own market research departments and therefore they conduct their own surveys. Most organizations, governments, non-profits, etc. however don’t have this luxury. As an alternative, they outsource to a panel provider or a market research company to conduct market research surveys for them, on a regular or as-needed basis.
Regardless of which panel company you select, here some tips that will help you in working with a survey panel company:
1. Use disqualification questions
This is the most important anytime you are buying panel. Make sure that your survey contains disqualification questions. Disqualification questions are the questions that remove respondents from your survey that are not in your target audience. Even though it is the panel company’s responsibility to get you the right respondents, people and their circumstances change over time. Make sure that you include this extra check.
2. Don’t ask for personal information
Panel companies’ entire business relies on their panelists. That means that you will not be allowed to ask for names, mailing address, e-mail addresses, or any other contact information that might identify their panelists. All surveys using online survey panel companies for respondents must be anonymous.
3. If you’re going to be doing follow-up surveys to the same group of people, let the panel company know in advance
Many survey panel companies have the ability to allow you to re-contact your respondents, but they will need to let the panelists know that this will be an ongoing study. The survey panel company may need to pass information into your survey in order to anonymously identify those respondents who complete it. Forge ahead, and go out there and get those respondents. Use these tips and the best online survey tool to drive your project and business to success.
