Using its proprietary Agora USA consumer insights community, Accelerant Research polled 748 Americans about their Independence Day plans and preferences.
The insights industry conducts an enormous amount of research among consumers and end-users, but customer-facing sales processes are often overlooked as an insights goldmine. Accelerant Research has developed an invaluable qualitative research method for assessing the one-on-one selling process, which we call Sales Simulation Interviews. Although the setup, logistics, recruiting, and execution of such studies are incredibly involved, the premise of this research is quite simple…client observers and research team members get to witness actual simulated sales interactions between real sales associates and prospective customers, and then, after the simulated sales interaction concludes, individual moderator-led debrief interviews are conducted with each party (seller and sellee) to understand the nuanced perceptions and opinions of the process from all angles. Any organization with a sales arm can benefit from this type of study.
This methodology can be leveraged to achieve a number of different internal business objectives to:
Additionally, no matter what type of salesforce an organization has, we can design a Sales Simulation study to accommodate the natural sales environment, such as:
We invite you to reach out to us for more information about Sales Simulation Interviews. Simply give us a call (704-206-8500) or send us an email ([email protected]). With our support and guidance in participant recruiting, technology/logistics management, and even moderating/full-service support, Accelerant Research can provide you with similarly successful and impactful insights. Recruiting qualified, articulate participants that show up for the study is not easy. This requires working hard and working smart. In order to best serve our clients with our recruiting, we have institutionalized a set of standard operating procedures that virtually always results in successful studies. Simply put, we have transcended the traditional modus operandi of focus group facility recruiting and, instead, perform casting services to find the right people who will play the role of a solid participant.
Just like casting agents, we begin by getting the background information of would-be participants vying for a part in the study. While casting agents solicit résumés and head shots, we administer screeners, and this is where we begin our work. Just as actors compete for various roles, prospective participants sometimes try to show themselves in the best light by answering questions in a way that will qualify them for the study. But it is our job to weed out the fakers from the takers. So our screeners are always designed to identify those who try to game the questions by making it impossible to figure out how to qualify. The next step also involves validation and verification. Casting agents invite those actors that pass the first hurdle to audition. During this step, they compare the headshot to actual appearance; they review the résumé against their behavior on the set, and they have the actor read for the part. Likewise, we make phone calls to those in our pool of possible participants and probe on important criteria to ensure no faking or gaming gets past us. We also impose the requirement of having all participants send us a recent photo of themselves. Last, we insert and administer our “Articulation Ability” questions that aid in the final recruitment of participants who will readily and openly share their experiences and opinions. At Accelerant Research, we appreciate all that goes into planning and executing qualitative research. But even with the most highly skilled moderator, in the most state-of-the-art facility, offering a handsome incentive, if recruitment fails to deliver “real participants” that show up and are candid, the study will fail. Ever since we began our recruiting practice, we have strived to transcend the traditional recruiting processes and perform our jobs like casting agents. And the results are seen in our ever-growing business and list of satisfied and loyal clients. For more information about our services, please contact us. Incentives paid to participants for qualitative research can be quite generous. Of course, that is what is intended in paying people for their time. Incentives help facilitate the recruiting process as its
attractiveness in amounts motivates participants to:
But incentives can be a double-edged sword. While they may be the impetus to participate in qualitative research, some people may try to do anything they can to qualify for studies so that they can reap the benefits of the incentive provided. Of course, participants must be screened and qualified in order to be invited to a study. Sometimes, the potential participant will try to psych out the recruiter by trying to answer screening questions in a manner that gets them qualified, regardless of whether their answers are truthful. In essence, they will lie, cheat, and do whatever it takes to “get the study.” Therefore, in order to ensure quality participants, the recruiter must be on his or her game at all times. You see, the recruiter is the last line of defense on behalf of the client (moderator) who has hired them to compile a list of qualified participants. Imagine if the recruiter simply went through the motions in the job of recruiting, paying no mind to the possibility that candidates may be lying. The participant recruited under false pretenses will probably not have a clue about the subject matter and, having faked their way into the study, really has nothing to offer the moderator or his/her client in terms of opinions from which insights are culled. At Accelerant Research, our team of recruiters are well trained to be sensitive to these conditions of lying and faking, and require all potential participants to provide anecdotes and even artifacts (photos, etc.) to validate their usage of or experience with the study topic. We pay close attention to their “stories” and probe them to clarify or expand their answers. In the end, we provide quality recruits that are both qualified and articulate. Contact us for more information or request a cost estimate from us as a first step. If we are granted the opportunity to work with you, we are confident that the quality of recruiting service you receive will be a marked improvement. |
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