Telephone surveys have a bad rap. People always call when you have a slew of emails to read, all-day meetings, and you’re trying to troubleshoot customer concerns. It is understandable that people do not want to be interrupted during their busy days to chat with a stranger about their recent experience with company X. Often people are confused why the stranger needs to know their position title, their location or their age. However, the data received from telephone interviews is rich with customer insights that companies are longing for.

Benefits of a Telephonic Survey 

More personal and skilled interviewers can get more out of people compared to a digital survey. 

• Yes, the person on the other end of the phone is a stranger, but a skilled interviewer can have a pleasant conversation with anyone. In a telephone survey, when you ask someone to explain their rating, they are likely to provide an explanation. They may even tell a story or offer a detailed explanation. Compare that to a digital survey where there is no one there talking to the respondents, they are likely to give short answers, if they answer the question at all. With a telephone survey, you get more detailed answers which leads to a richer database.  

• Telephone surveys are the ideal methodology more often than people think. Social media data mining and other “instant” forms of data collection are popular because of the speed at which one gets results. But do you really want to make important business decisions based on human-less data? After all, your business relies on humans (customers, employees, clients, etc.), so why collect data that eliminates the human element?

It’s Immediate! Skilled interviewers can complete about 1 survey for every 6-7 dials.  

• With skilled interviewers, you don’t not need to waste time checking the quality of the data. You don’t have to worry about bots or people clicking through your survey too quickly.  You have immediate, high quality data to help you drive the important decisions in your business.

• At PATH, our telephone surveys typically last under 5 minutes. This is because we ask the right questions, make it easy for people to answer, and have highly skilled interviewers. 

Can be less time consuming for respondents. 

• A telephone survey can be faster than a digital survey – yes, you heard us correctly. A well written, thoughtful telephone survey is all about efficiently working through the questions and providing clarification exactly when it’s needed.  People vary in their typing and reading comprehension speeds and it can be easier to answer a survey verbally rather than typing responses. 

Why Telephonic Surveys Get a Bad Rap

Why do telephonic surveys have such a bad reputation?  Because they’re hard to do: 

• Timing is everything – when you call and how long the survey takes matters. 

• It can be difficult to reach people – people don’t answer numbers they don’t know and fewer people have landlines 

• No one wants to talk to a telemarketer – what is this, the 80s? 

You Want the Best Data without the Trouble - Expertise Makes the Difference!  

Make Sure Your Questions Are Right the First Time - Conduct Focus Groups. 

• Focus groups as a first step is great for making sure your questions will never be misunderstood. Why?  Because you. Then you know when calling that you are using the language of your target audience and asking the important questions. 

The Most Important Key?  Have Skilled Interviewers. 

• At PATH our callers have been called “Rock-Stars” by clients and are often praised on the quality of the data they collect for clients. 

• Monitoring data quality and continuous coaching are necessary to maintain high standards of data collection. Recording calls is helpful for providing feedback and coaching. 

Use Mixed-method Data Collections! 

• Give them options - Don’t want to talk by phone? We’ll follow with a digital survey! 

• Digital surveys are a great way to let people complete a survey on their own time.  

• Digital surveys do have the downside that anyone or anything could complete your survey. However, top survey platforms, like Survey Sparrow or Qualtrics, have features that help you prevent unwanted data or to catch and delete bad data (e.g., from bots).

Know your audience

At PATH, we hear from people we survey how glad they are that someone cared enough to call to learn more about their experiences.

Who are telephone surveys best for? Honestly, everyone! Are there certain populations that are less likely to take a telephone survey? Of course! Survey design is key!  

• Know how to ask the right questions to your audience. 

• What questions will matter to your audience the most? Asking these questions will keep them engaged. 

• Know their limits! Different audiences will have different patience levels and motivations to participate. You must understand both to create a survey that will engage all motivation levels without exceeding their patience levels. 

Conclusion 

Everyone wants high quality data, but without the hassle of properly collecting it. Methodologies like social media data mining are quite popular, but that type of data is missing a key factor – the HUMAN! Telephone surveys are one of the best ways to collect high quality data that leads to impactful insights for businesses. A great interviewer can get more details out of people and encourage them to answer questions they may skip if completing the survey on their own. While telephone surveys do have their disadvantages, when they are combined with other methodologies, the data you receive is rich with insights that will help any business make strategic decisions with confidence.