Relevance of a telephone survey in a digital world

The world has indeed gone digital in almost every way today. Most of the old, traditional research methods are not as effective as they used to be. They’ve changed their form into a digital form. Today, there’s a wide range of market research techniques, such as online bulletin boards and focus group discussions. However, one traditional research technique still holds a great amount of value, i.e., telephone survey or interview. We, as one of the leading market research companies worldwide, believe that a telephone survey or interview still plays a unique role in the realm of market research. It’s still quite significant because it benefits your brand in its own ways.

A phone survey or interview is a highly effective method for data collection. The interviewer carries out a telephone interview and collects responses through either a pre-coded option or a verbatim answer, which is why it is also called a Computer Assisted Telephonic Interview. Let’s delve into the benefits of Computer Aided Telephone Interviews (CATI) that reflect the current significance of a CATI survey and show why it is still relevant in this digital world.

1) Helps to connect with Difficult-to-Reach audiences

It might be hard for many to believe this, but there are still many people who don’t like to spend too much time on social media and who also don’t answer their emails frequently. In addition, some don’t prefer to fill an online survey. So, a CATI survey is perfect for reaching out to these audiences since a geographical location does not really limit it. Regardless of where respondents are based, a CATI survey can help you interact with them and get valuable feedback from them.

2) Offers a more personalized survey experience

An online survey has certain limitations. It doesn’t guarantee that respondents will give you in-depth information as it is entirely up to the person filling the survey form. They might submit long answers to open-ended questions, or they might keep them short. However, in the case of a CATI survey, you can probe respondents for more information, and you can totally guide the interview based on how detailed you want their answers to be. So, it is more of a personalized survey experience since it makes the idea of providing in-depth information much more convenient.

3) Provides accurate and high-quality data

Since phone interviewers are usually trained to conduct extensive research and have amazing research skills, they can ensure that respondents provide in-depth, high-quality, accurate data. The fact that a telephone survey can provide respondents with a more personalized experience ensures that information will be accurate and of the highest quality. Not only that, if any respondent is confused about a question or doesn’t understand a question, interviewers can help them get clarity and elicit high-quality responses.

4) Offers meaningful insights in a structured form

Since a phone survey can be guided by the moderator based on how they want respondents to provide information and how intricate or elaborate they want their answers to be, they can instil a sense of trust in respondents. This trust factor can help them to get meaningful insights in a much more structured manner.

So, a telephone survey, needless to say, still holds a lot of value as a market research method. It provides a human vibe and allows respondents to answer freely in an elaborate manner, building an incredible amount of trust. As a matter of fact, a computer-assisted telephonic interview can be more effective when coupled with other market research techniques, such as online surveys and focus group discussions.

We at Unimrkt Research have successfully completed CATI surveys for a variety of clients, including management/consulting firms and tech firms, over the last 11 years. As a reliable CATI company worldwide, we have conducted extensive research across varied industrial sectors in more than 90 countries and in over 22 foreign languages. So, if you’re looking for a research firm that can provide you with high-end research services and valuable insights to help you grow your business, contact us for a high-impact, long-lasting collaboration.