Whether it is conducting survey research, performing telephone interviews, or simply distributing and compiling forms, making the right business and organizational decisions requires collecting data, sometimes at a large scale.

A few specific illustrations among many:

         Customer Service Departments: Running an ongoing customer feedback program (from warranty programs to loyalty programs)

         Marketing Departments: Soliciting and accumulating feedback from target markets during product or brand development stages;
          Soliciting and accumulating feedback from target markets to assess their response (or lack of response) to the product or brand after it
          has been in the marketplace; Evaluating the effectiveness of sales & marketing communications materials

         Human Resources Departments: Administering tests, questionnaires, evaluations, and performance reviews for staff and management

         Government and Non-Profit Entities: Measuring the use and impact of social programs

         Small and Start-Up Businesses: Performing studies that aim to uncover unmet market needs

         Publishers: Gathering and presenting new industry statistics

         Conference Organizers: Gauging attendee satisfaction

 

Whatever your specific data collection project, you want (and likely need) to gather and act on the data as quickly as possible. But the logistical portion requires knowledge and time your organization may not have. This usually includes:

1.
 Designing forms and surveys that have a professional look and feel.
2.
 Translating and adapting forms and surveys for international audiences, and audiences of different cultures, when applicable.
3.
 Making sure forms and surveys follow best practices and comply with privacy laws (do your respondents know whether or not their responses are confidential and/or anonymous?).
4.
 Data capture: Distributing your forms and surveys via one or more channels (mail, email, Web, phone, or in person via clipboard or handheld computer).
5.
 Data processing: Transferring or entering the data into a central database that is clean, consistent, and accurate, so that you and your staff can then easily analyze and use it.
6.
 Continually analyzing and improving the processes comprising and surrounding all of these activities.

 

Consider how much time you and your staff spend on these tasks, and how much time this takes away from other work. And given your need to have information quickly, consider what that delay is costing. As time passes, data becomes less meaningful and so the decisions based on that data become less sound.

Equally important: Beyond the logistical components of data collection, you need to ensure you have the expertise to determine what data you need, what methodologies and approaches should be used to gather it, and how to conduct the rigorous analysis required to decipher meaningful conclusions.

 

Sentenium can help. With long experience planning and executing all phases of research and data collection projects, we have the expertise and resources you need!