A seemingly-young girl named Shilin, from Research Pacific Group just called our organization under the pretext of doing a survey about telecommunications usage in our organization, and wanted to know things like the service providers we use, how much do we spend on telecommunications per month, per annum, etc.

One interesting point to note was that once I asked her what the survey was for, she immediately launched into her explanation that this was only a very short survey, and would not take up much of my time. She then quickly began asking questions before I even agreed to participate in the survey.

After asking a total of 2 questions related to my organization’s telecommunication usage, she then moved on to asking questions about my own personal telecommunications usage, and I got really curious. Well, she succeeded in getting responses out of me, but only because my curiosity was piqued (and because I was feeling a little bored at work)! So here’s a surveyor company who was trying to kill 2 birds with one stone – first, ask about the company’s telecommunication usage, expenditure, then oh! at the same time, ask the person who answers your call about his/her telecommunication usage, expenditure, etc.

So what’s your focus? Corporate consumerism, or individual consumerism?

I can only say this to you: FAIL.

In the second part of the survey, I was asked questions like:

What mobile service provider do you use? Do you watch sports on TV often? Do you know about ABC company, XYZ company and 123 company (names of mobile network providers, mobile phone brands, internet service providers, etc.)

Soon, we moved on to the really ridiculous questions:

SL: Do you like F1?
Me: No.
SL: Do you know that Singtel is the main sponsor of F1?
Me: Yes.
SL: Do you think Singtel has the ability to sponsor F1?
Me: Well, they just did, didn’t they?
SL: Um, okay. Do you know about Malaysian F1?
Me: Yes, I’m Malaysian.
SL: Oh, do you know Sepang?
Me: Yes.
SL: Oh. Hmm. Do you know about Singtel products?
Me: Yes, I used to work for Singtel.
SL: Erm, okay, thanks. Bye!

What is the purpose of such surveys, and why is it that phone surveyors always refuse to divulge the purpose of the survey?

I would be much more willing to participate in surveys if I knew what it was for. The questions in her survey were obvious, and her results will probably not help any study much, in my opinion – they’re too broad/general and not focused at all!

I think it would help companies not waste resources if they:

1. Try to structure surveys so that it would give them focussed responses
   The worst thing that can happen with a survey is that you end up with a bunch of yes/no answers that are completely useless. The way I see a lot surveys are structured, what a lot of companies must be getting are exactly that – answers that provide little or no insight into consumers’ wants, needs, preferences and ideals. Also, don’t try to cover too many bases at one go, because you end up with too many things to deal with, and survey participants get bored. Keep your surveys short, sweet, simple and structured.
2. Be honest with people they call on what the surveys are for
   What’s wrong with telling people that you are trying to develop a new product for so-and-so, or gathering feedback about a particular event or product or service?
3. Train the surveyors on how to handle questions from people receiving the calls
   Unfortunately, if you meet people like me, I will definitely try to make things difficult for you by asking you questions that you probably do not know the answer to. Surveyors should not be skirting around questions posed or evading them, because it will piss the participants off, and then we will decide not to continue. Also, phone etiquette can make or break a telephone conversation – I am more likely to participate in your survey or listen to your sales pitch if you give me the impression that you are truthful, sincere, appreciative and polite. Speaking well (this doesn’t mean putting on an accent) helps.

So, my questions to you (readers) are these: To answer, or not to answer? And why? Is there anything that telemarketers or surveyors can do to make you interested or willing to participate in phone surveys?