When you need to conduct market research, one of your first crucial decisions will be which type of methodology to use. You can choose between CAWI methodology for online surveys or CAPI methodology for offline surveys, but traditional phone surveys are still quite beneficial as well. Consider all the advantages and disadvantages of telephone surveys as you decide on your methodology.
A CATI phone survey might be the right solution for your data collection. With the right survey software, such as IdSurvey, you’ll have all the tools and support you need to gather effective and comprehensive research. With CATI telephone surveys you can conduct customer satisfaction surveys, market research, political polls, social research, and other types of survey. Choose a survey software that gives you great flexibility in licensing and not just functionalities as you don’t surely want to over-invest.
How to conduct a telephone survey?
A telephone survey involves phone agents that contact survey respondents by phone asking questions to collect information. The phone number is automatically displayed to the agents in the CATI interface and they can make calls using click-to-dial or automated or predictive dialing.
The interviewer follows a script on the screen that includes an introduction to the survey, a questionnaire with different types of questions, and a conclusion.
Professional CATI survey software as IdSurvey allows you to manage and set call dispositions, delays, quotas, and to schedule appointments with the respondents. The professional CATI survey software automatically manages the database, the attempts, and appointments according to the settings decided by the administrator.
Advantages of telephone-based interviews with CATI method
There are several reasons why researchers choose the CATI phone surveys over other survey methodologies.
- Research can be gathered quickly because phone interviews are live and skilled interviewers can complete a lot of surveys in a day of work.
- Most people have telephones, so you potentially have a wide audience to reach.
- A telephone interview has a personal touch, so it can lead to valuable brand-building benefits if the interviewer conducts calls in a professional and skilled way.
- Telephone interviews can be cost-effective as you can have a higher response rate than web surveys, for example.
Disadvantages of telephone-based interviews
Despite these positive benefits, there are a few drawbacks to consider when using the telephone to conduct your questionnaire.
- Sometimes telephone calls are perceived as telemarketing and thus negatively received by potential respondents. This might influence your response rate.
- It can be challenging to design telephone survey questions: they need to be short and precise for easy comprehension.
- Timing must be carefully considered. The administrators and supervisors should monitor both the time of the call and the length of the actual interview.
How to choose the right survey software for telephone based interviews
When you decide to design a market research survey, be aware that the choice of software is the key step in determining the success of the project. When you choose the right phone survey software, all other elements easily fall into place.
For example, the survey software IdSurvey allows you to easily and intuitively create professional phone surveys. In addition, with its features, you can also combine multiple methodologies in the same survey to optimize your investment and ensure effective data collection.
