Web Enhanced Phone Interviews
About Web Enhanced Phone Interviews
One of the most innovative forms of market research to come about in the last few years is called Web Enhanced Phone Interviews. This method simultaneously combines a phone interview with the visual aids capabilities of the web. The setup is much like a scheduled phone interview (usually with an executive interviewer where the potential respondent is asked a number of questions to ensure that he/she is qualified and then a date and time is scheduled for the interview to take place. The respondent is also asked if they will have access to high speed web during the interview. For those who qualify an incentive is offered and the date and time is set. The interview starts when the interviewer calls the respondent and sends an e-mail with a link to a secure web site. The respondent is asked to click on the link and log on, and the interview starts. Both the interviewer and the respondent can see the same web page and throughout the interview, although the moderator will periodically change the screen to reveal a any visual aids that have been put together for the interview. Examples include: workflows, product concepts, product capabilities, maybe a competitive lineup of similar products and the interviewer will probe on the respondents interest, likelihood to purchase, preference for different products etc.
Web Enhanced Phone Interview Training
In general conducting Web Enhanced Phone Interviews is reserved for higher level respondents that may not have the time to take 2 or 3 hours out of their day to go to a focus group facility. From the moderator's standpoint they are generally more experienced interviewers and they need to be very familiar with the topic as well as the slideset that will be shown.
Web Enhanced Phone Interviews Pros
- Web Enhanced Phone Interviews allow a great deal of detail as there is only one respondent, and most Web Enhanced Phone Interviews last for 30 to 60 minutes.
- There is less pressure on the respondent to consider whether their answers are socially acceptable as they only have the interviewer's voice on the line to worry about.
- This is a new enough market research method that the refusal rate is still fairly low due simply to the novelty factor.
- This is a great method for respondents who are geographically dispersed, but need to see visual aids in order to have a good idea of what's being discussed.
Web Enhanced Phone Interviews Cons
- The cost of conducting Web Enhanced Phone Interviews can be fairly high as there is a significant amount of time invested in putting together a good slideset and the technology requires a good IT manager to makes sure that everything works as planned. However economies of scale kick in eventually and the price per interview drops somewhat as more interviews are conducted. The prices seem to be coming down as more companies adopt this technology.
- Not everyone has uninterrupted access to high speed internet for up to an hour, so that can be a problem at times.
Web Enhanced Phone Interviews Timing
It's typical to conduct 4-7 interviews in a day, although these are very long days for the interviewer. A typical, single region, research project might include anywhere from 15 to 50 interviews depending on how many sub-groups need to assessed. That means that the fielding of a series of Web Enhanced Phone Interviews can take one to two weeks and when you add planning time (which can still be longer than other methods simply because this is a newer market research method, time to go through the results and put together a presentation, a single region Web Enhanced Phone Interview project may take 6 to 9 weeks to be done well - again depending on the number of interviews that need to be conducted.
Special Considerations
Web Enhanced Phone Interviews are very good for sensitive topics (personal or professional sensitivities) and people may discuss things that they wouldn't be willing to discuss in a focus group full of 6 or 8 complete strangers.
