Editor’s note: Darren Bosik is senior methodologist with QuestBack, a Bridgeport, Conn., enterprise feedback management firm.
As a researcher, when the discussion turns to investing in developing an in-house online panel, it’s often a difficult sell. Senior managers are pulling their purse strings tighter and so you’re faced with the challenge of how to convince management of the best ways to allocate your budget while proving the value of your intended research investments.
Here are four tips for framing your conversation:
Clearly define what you mean by “a panel.” Tell management that you want to create a private online panel and lay out the process it involves in plain, detailed terms. Tell them it will be made of up maybe thousands of customers and you will use it primarily for surveys, focus groups and in-depth interviews and that you have strong plans for rewarding the respondents and for balancing their participation to reduce bias and panelist attrition.
Talk about quality. Tell them that your management of the pool of respondents will improve the quality of the data and, by extension, the insights. You are in control of the sample you pull for studies and can ensure it’s the right one for your needs. You’ll also be building richer, more robust panel profiles over time through the feedback you gather, which will ultimately lead to more targeted, demographic sampling and better results. The ability to gather in-depth profiles on each customer, coupled with segmentation data, enables far greater insights without having to bother the customer by repeatedly asking questions you already know about them.
Mention cost-effectiveness. The setup costs for your panel can often be deferred over several months. In the meantime, as you recruit more panelists and begin to do research you are taking giant steps toward getting a return on your initial investment. You’ll soon achieve considerable cost savings over a year’s time compared to outsourcing panel recruitment and buying sample from a third party.
Accentuate the agility and flexibility. There’s nothing better than having your own pool of respondents available at a moment’s notice when you need quick research answers. Managing your own in-house panel brings insights to your desktop faster and with greater ability to re-survey, probe and carry out in-depth questions with specific panelists when necessary.