SurveyShop Research Team
August 2001
SurveyShop's Research Team is breaking new ground in enabling Snap customers to focus on what they want to achieve from their research rather than how to achieve it within any bounds set by the software, their knowledge or experience. As the Snap range develops to encompass new and dynamic ways of doing research, customers are increasingly looking to Snap Surveys to allow them go even further. They are not just asking about the software, but seeking advice on research techniques and appropriate methods to use, or looking for practical help when integrating Snap with other technologies such as the Internet.
SurveyShop's Research Team has been created to offer practical assistance and advice to clients working on unusual or demanding projects, or to offer custom enhancements to the software. Two members of the team are skilled and experienced researchers, having worked in market and opinion research for many years prior to joining Snap Surveys; two others are specialists in software engineering and Internet technology. This combination of research and technological expertise means that customers have a complete resource to call on when they find they are pushing at the limits: whatever those limits may be.
Every project is different
Some projects are about getting more from the data through more effective analysis strategies; others concern questions of research design or methodology. SurveyShop Research Team can help when complex technical issues arise, such as how to make an Internet survey truly secure, or how to incorporate sound and video files in interviews
There is no such thing as a typical project for the SurveyShop Research Team. In some cases, the customer may need no more than an expert opinion or some advice on how best to achieve something from a research perspective; in other cases, SurveyShop takes on some, or even all of the work, especially if software customization or web development work is involved. Some projects are about getting more from the data through more effective analysis strategies; others concern questions of research design or methodology. SurveyShop can help when complex technical issues arise, such as how to make an Internet survey truly secure, or how to incorporate sound and video files in interviews.
SurveyShop aims to work in close partnership with its clients, so that the final solution benefits from everyone’s ideas, experience and involvement. This approach ensures that the work can be shared and costs controlled because clients are not paying external consultants to do those parts of the work they could reasonably and more cost-effectively do themselves. When SurveyShop’s involvement is complete, clients do not find themselves with a ‘black box’ solution that begs further consultation: SurveyShop aims to deliver answers and software that clients can use for themselves and gain further from their investment well into the future.
Here, we examine how SurveyShop's Research Team has helped two different clients see their ideas for cutting edge research activities become reality, by getting SurveyShop’s specialists on the case.
Betting company backs a winner with Snap Internet research
William Hill is one of the world’s leading off-track betting companies, with a network of 1,500 licensed betting offices in the UK, over 300,000 telephone customers throughout the world and a fast growing base of customers wagering on the Internet. The online market is particularly attractive to William Hill as customers are typically younger and wealthier than traditional customers, and often new to betting as well.
Brenda Hammonds, Market Research Manager at William Hill has successfully been using Snap to research this market over the last two years. When a research project was proposed involving some tricky, complex rotations of ad concepts on screen, Brenda was sure it would be beyond Snap’s capabilities. She explained: "I asked the HelpDesk who confirmed it was not possible in the current version, but they put me through to SurveyShop."
A SurveyShop analyst was assigned to the task to work closely with Brenda to provide a custom solution. In under a month, a specially adapted version of Snap was collecting data on the web
A SurveyShop analyst was assigned to the task to work closely with Brenda to provide a custom solution. In under a month, a specially adapted version of Snap was collecting data on the web in precisely the way the project demanded it should be.
Describing the working relationship as "a partnership", Brenda also got involved with testing the custom program. "You do need to test thoroughly – there will be teething problems along the way. Once we had accepted all the changes, the program worked fine. We had a huge response: as an exercise it was extremely useful," she reported.
Brenda is delighted with the results she is getting from Internet surveys. "It has energized me as a researcher," she commented. "This is a completely new string to my bow. When someone has a research requirement, I can write a questionnaire and obtain all the results myself: it is cheap and it is incredibly fast. Provided you keep the survey short, the response is very good: people are helpful and really get involved provided you do not tax them too much."
By using SurveyShop, Brenda has discovered not only a reliable but also a highly cost effective way to create advanced web research projects that go beyond the boundaries of the standard Snap software.
SurveyShop Research Team fills the GAP for global consulting firm
The Global Assignment Policy forum is an online think tank and information source for human resource directors with employees working overseas. GAP was set up in 1999 by Andersen, the world leading consulting and accounting firm, using Snap software and SurveyShop, to provide Andersen’s clients with up to date information on expatriate employment issues.
At the time, other firms were publishing data on an annual or quarterly basis, but usually on a regional basis. "By the time you have published many of these results, they are already out of date," said Barry Page, Andersen’s Partner responsible for International HR Services. With GAP, he wanted to go beyond what his competitors were doing and use the Internet to create a ‘members only’ club in which global companies would be able to compare their individual performance against current practice in the market, provided they also contributed to the data through online surveys.
Barry was familiar with Snap and saw how its web module could meet the needs for collecting the data. To see how feasible it would be to link Snap into a new, content-rich website where textual reports and presentation quality information were refreshed automatically, Barry approached Snap Surveys and was put in touch with SurveyShop Research Team.
Over a course of three meetings, an overall plan was worked out, with ideas flowing from both sides. "We had some good ideas but we said at the outset we wanted Snap Surveys to be proactive with ideas. It has been a fairly easy relationship as we worked together – they have certainly been very responsive."
Hosted on the Snap SurveyShop server but integrated seamlessly with Andersen’s corporate website. SurveyShop have developed the technical aspects so that Barry and his team are able to set up and modify surveys using the Snap tools they are familiar with.
The result was the automated, content-rich website Barry was seeking, hosted on the Snap SurveyShop server but integrated seamlessly with Andersen’s corporate website. SurveyShop have developed the technical aspects so that Barry and his team are able to set up and modify surveys using the Snap tools they are familiar with.
Beyond the continuous survey, one-off polls let the site deal with hot topics in global HR, such as employee repatriation and ‘localization’ (permanent postings abroad). Again, only those completing the survey get to see the result. "On these mini-surveys, we now work to a two week publishing timescale. That is very good in our area," Barry explained.
The main questionnaire, now in French as well as English and with plans to include other languages, has changed very little in the two years it has been running. The up-to-date information the survey offers continues to attract new members.
"It has enabled us to get from a zero point to one where we have overtaken our competitors in a relatively short period of time," Barry concluded. "We were the first with anything like this, which has been great."
How The SurveyShop Research Team can help you
Now. Snap customers have an even greater choice of services to help get the job done.
SurveyShop complements Snap Support, by offering a commissioned service focused on the outcome for the whole research project rather than the software.
With custom enhancements to Snap, clients get the benefit of both worlds: the economy and reliability of the off-the-shelf software package and the perfect fit of the custom-built system but free of the risks and financial penalties of starting from scratch.
Not all projects are necessarily as extensive or involved as the examples described here: SurveyShop is equally available to work on those projects that need just a few hours’ help. By working in partnership with the client, sharing ideas and dividing the tasks, not only is the outcome improved but the time to get there is reduced. It is how SurveyShop is able to help Snap users push forward the frontiers of their research.