This is the first post in a series on subjects near and dear to our online omnibus hearts. The series is meant to help our friends and clients learn more about what we do and how to best use our services. We’d like to see your comments and questions, requests for more information, and suggestions for topics you want to know more about.
The series kicks off with five important checkpoints that you can use to help determine whether an online omnibus is right for your current research project. This straightforward review process comes naturally at the outset of every study, and you should feel comfortable that the survey company you’re working with is able to satisfy your concerns. As we discuss the checkpoints we’ll underline what an online omnibus can do so that you can better assess fit with your objectives.
#1 – Budget – Affordability is always a key concern when deciding whether and how to pursue a research project. Research should be undertaken to inform and support your business; as costs rise, the net value of the research diminishes. An online omnibus offers a strong way to help control costs while still providing valuable, robust and relevant results that speak to your research objectives.
- If you need to ask only a few research questions (or even just one), you can do that through an online omnibus without having to pay for a full custom research project, and gain a full set of demographic analysis points to help place those results in context.
- If you have a longer questionnaire (some clients have asked us to include up to 30 questions in a single field), you can still realize significant savings by using an online omnibus. Since they often don’t have to support a full custom research staff, online omnibus providers have lower overhead costs, and their base pricing should reflect that.
- Further cost savings may be realized when arrangements are made with the provider for ongoing work. Subscription discounts are usually progressive as well – the greater the commitment, the greater the savings.
#2 – Schedule – In research as in business overall, timing can mean everything. You need to receive research results in plenty of time for you to organize your resources to take best advantage of opportunities in the marketplace. When speed is of the essence, an online omnibus survey can harvest complete and reliable research results within just a few days after the survey has launched. Even when fast turnaround is not a necessity, the speedy return of quality research product from a reputable online omnibus service can allow you to act quickly and confidently on the results.
#3 – Design Support – Working with an experienced survey consultant when designing research is crucial. You will gain expert support in designing all aspects of your research project from someone with full knowledge of research practice who understands intimately how to make best use of the best tools, and will listen to you intently and ask the right questions. A quality online omnibus provider will offer strong consultative support at every stage of your project. We’ll talk more in the future about the role of the omnibus survey consultant.
#4 – Confidence – When you conduct research, you need to be able to trust completely that your provider, and the design and quality of the research results can all be relied upon. The sample needs to be robust and balanced, the questionnaire clean, clear and to the point, the deliverables complete and on-point, and deadlines will be reasonably set, then met. A well-run online omnibus service is focused on its craft, and will have its people, processes and tools aligned to provide you with an experience and a set of results in which you can place full confidence.
#5 – Repeatability – There’s a certain comfort in nurturing a productive and fruitful business relationship. Uniquely satisfying experiences that can be repeated often form the basis of your own ongoing success. In research, this can apply to a tracking study that needs to be executed in exactly the same way each time it goes out. It can also be about knowing you can go back to a company you’ve partnered well with before and expect a similarly positive result. Working with an online omnibus service that’s been set up and run by people who know what they’re doing, who remember you and value your business, can mean a smoother and richer research experience every time.
When you work with any survey company, you should be able to rely upon the idea that each one of these checkpoints will be met and addressed, directly and competently, to your satisfaction. A quality online omnibus service provider will have faced these questions many times before with many clients from a variety of different industries.