Typically, most projects last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on the overall scope of the study, the number of respondents involved, and the complexity of study objectives.
Studies focused on a particular issue and involving a limited number of study participants usually fall in the $15,000 to $25,000 range. Larger, more complex projects can cost between $30,000 and $80,000. However, because all projects are customized, a significant amount of flexibility is present in not only study design, but the impact on the overall cost as well.
Pricing occurs by project. After initial discussions with our clients, we provide proposals that outline the costs for different study options. The end cost is what is specified in the proposal for the study option our clients choose.
Epley interviews are conducted by our own staff, including the members of the management team. All are highly trained researchers—each with at least a four-year college degree, knowledgeable about our client’s business, trained in active listening techniques, and skilled in interacting with respondents (from consumers to company executives) in a conversational, yet professional manner.
Most interviews are conducted over the telephone, but we also conduct interviews in person or online. Interviewers follow a guide, but their role is to interact with the respondent to get to the bottom of issues—probing for examples and more detailed feedback, when needed—rather than simply asking a series of questions.
Individual customer interviews can typically last anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more, depending on the scope of the research, availability of the respondent, and each individual’s ability to speak to the objectives of the study.
Over the years, we have found that a very simple method for gaining participation is to schedule interviews in advance. We have researchers and recruiters that are experts in identifying potential research participants and scheduling interviews, sometimes as far as a month in advance.
The effect is twofold. First, in a way, it lends an extra degree of credibility to the research. Second—and most importantly—it outwardly acknowledges the respondents’ duties and the value of their time. Scheduling an appointment for the research interview does not put the respondents “on the spot,” so to speak, with the expectation that they participate immediately. We are always able to find a time that is convenient for their schedule—morning, noon, or night.
In many circumstances, we have found that it is not necessary to provide respondents with incentives to participate. This is particularly due to the realization that it is in the respondent’s enlightened self interest to share his or her thoughts with the interviewer given that there is likely already a relationship established between the customer and the client sponsoring the research. If it is a product-based study, for instance, a customer rarely requires an incentive to provide feedback on a product or service which he or she may use on a daily basis. Typically, the potential for improving the product to better meet the individual’s needs is an incentive in and of itself.
There are, however, circumstances when an incentive might be required to secure participation.
Most studies range in size anywhere from 15 to 50 interviews. However, depending on the scope of the research, complexity of the objectives, or number of unique customer segments from which a client seeks to gain insight, interviews could also number in the hundreds.
Epley has specific security parameters in place to ensure the security of all customer contact information sent to us by clients (sensitive or otherwise). Names and other information are securely maintained throughout the course of the study and properly destroyed upon completion of the engagement. Epley never examines the information or presents it to others (for sale or otherwise) outside of the normal parameters of the research study.
Ultimately, we provide our clients with the information they seek in the format that will be most useful to them moving forward. This could include:
Individual, Case-Study Findings
Aggregate Findings
Unlike most research firms that provide quantitative data or representative statistics across an entire given population, Epley provides options for individual Customer Reports on each respondent participating in the study. These reports can take a variety of forms.
There are usually at least four or five steps. We begin with a Problem Definition meeting to review the key goals and objectives of the engagement. Then we go through a defined series of steps, the exact nature of which depends on whether our clients are looking for pure data or recommendations. In most cases, we take our clients through three or four points of collaboration. At each stage, we share information or data, gain feedback from our client, make any necessary adjustments, and proceed to the next step.
We make adjustments in the traditional work process and guide the client through a series of briefings. In that way, our clients are fully and personally engaged. They get that sense of being “inside the head” of the people we are talking to, a hallmark of Epley studies, but with very limited time requirements on their part.
Yes. Studies of this type have more collaboration to ensure the recommendations are appropriate and properly attuned to a company’s situation and management objectives.
That obviously depends on with whom we are compared. Most of our clients see us as more thoughtful, more committed to thoroughness, and more attuned to their business objectives than other research firms. Although our clients use us for IDIs, most would not see us as an IDI company. They think of us more in terms of the thoroughness of our process and our willingness to invest in the thinking around a project.
There are three main differences between our methods of conducting IDIs and those from other companies. First, since this is our primary line of business, we offer several different versions of IDIs, giving our clients a great deal of flexibility in cost and deliverables.
Second, following each interview we prepare a formal written report or narrative, almost exclusively in the respondent’s own words. These summaries provide a level of understanding that is striking to virtually all clients who see our work for the first time. Third, we have developed processes for coding and analyzing data from the individual interview profiles, a very large benefit to our clients who prepare their own reports.
You can buy our services however you would like. The size, scope, cost, etc. can all be tailored to fit your individual business needs, time frame, availability of collaboration, and budget.
This service is best used as a quick, readily accessible means of knowing what’s going on in a company’s customer base. Usually companies want such information when there are changes happening that they do not fully understand, e.g., slow sales of a new product, lost sales opportunities with new customers, customers reducing business, competitive losses, or the loss of key or national accounts.
Each of the five customer intelligence tools has its own guide that features topics and lines of dialogue germane to the topic of interest, e.g., competitive sales wins or losses, lost customers, or pre-renewal. We develop customized guides for more specific applications. Clients can also request to have specific questions added to the dialogue.
Since the bulk of conversation is typically focused on our client, we normally disclose the name of the study sponsor. With their permission, we include the names of the customers on the individual profiles/reports so that companies can compare their view of the transaction or relationship with the customers’ view.
For the most part, our clients’ customers are very willing to participate in these kinds of dialogues. After all, it is normally in their own enlightened self-interest to help the companies that serve them to better understand their unique needs.
In virtually all cases, this is a very positive experience for the customer. There is a high level of accommodation in setting the appointment and positive rapport within the interview itself. Respondents feel good about being able to share both positive and negative experiences with us—given that we serve as a neutral third party.
This is the true voice of the customer. People express their concerns in their own words rather than through check marks on a scale. The data are analyzed at the level of the individual customer rather than averaged across many customers or groups of customers. What our clients learn is deeper, richer, and more specific than customer satisfaction surveys.
We offer many options for varying length of interviews, different customer applications (e.g., on-boarding), custom designed guides, coding and quantification of trends, and formal written reports.
We would need two things from you…a one-hour briefing session on your services and relationships with customers, and a listing of prospective companies with contact names.
That is not a big problem. Our research staff is very skilled at working through organizations to identify the person responsible for specific functions or relationships with vendors.
If you have the names of companies you would like to have contacted, you would begin receiving reports from the interviews in three to five days.
