Web hosting and response management
April 2003
How can you offer clients a full research service covering the full spectrum of research services from strategic to tactical projects? We talk to a consultancy that has developed a "virtual business model" to do just that. When it was asked to undertake a web-based survey of several thousand respondents in eight different European languages, Revelation Research, a long-standing Snap user, needed help with web hosting and response management, so it turned to the SurveyShop for help.
A revelation in research
Revelation Research is a specialist business-to-business market research consultancy focused predominantly on the ICT (Information & Communications Technology) sectors. The consultancy has worked for most of the major IT companies over the years, and has a highly prestigious client list including Sybase, IBM Global Services, Nextra, Equifax, Network Associates, Hitachi, Arjo Wiggins, Black Box Network Services. Based near Faringdon in Oxfordshire, Revelation operates a "virtual business model". Whilst the business has only two partners, it draws on the resources of a further 30 people to work on specific projects. Thanks to these virtual teams, Revelation is able to tackle a broad range of research projects and offer its clients a first-class service.
Research projects are bespoke including qualitative and quantitative studies. Typically they cover everything from the tactical - satisfaction surveys, usability studies, creative and media testing, pre- and post-campaign testing, usage and awareness studies – to the strategic - product/service concept testing and development, market positioning surveys, buyer behaviour and dynamics analysis and market modelling. Bespoke research and the "virtual business model" have proven to be a winning combination, and Revelation Research sees a significant amount of repeat business from clients year on year.
Richard Ryan is one of the consultancy’s founding partners. Richard has used Snap for at least eight years and said, "I first bought the software because it was the best tool for the job, well suited to a small/medium sized agency, easy to use and comprehensive enough to cover most of the quantitative research process".
Getting a response
It was when Revelation was asked to undertake a web-based survey for one particular IT client, that it turned to Snap Surveys, the authors of Snap, for assistance. The client produces multi-lingual versions of its software for use throughout the world. The research sought to evaluate how effective this "localization" was for not just the software, but also the company’s documentation and website. Aimed at IT professionals throughout Europe, the survey was unusual for Revelation in that it involved several thousand respondents where most of the consultancy’s surveys require smaller samples of 200 to 400 respondents. The survey also required web hosting and response management, which the SurveyShop Team was happy to provide.
The team's involvement covered a number of key stages in the survey project. The eight different language versions were e-mailed to SurveyShop in Word format, which the Team then set up in Snap, using previous experience of non-Western European language surveys. The next stage was to create a standard style template to ensure consistent branding across all language versions. As one of the key survey objectives was the ability to compare data between countries, the set up allowed merging of data from all survey versions. In the case of non-western European countries, the published survey files were then edited to ensure the appearance of foreign character sets and to match the server script.
Draft versions of the surveys were then uploaded for thorough in-house testing and checking by Revelation. Once the different versions were approved the surveys were made available to the target groups. Regular updates on response rates for each language version of the survey were provided to Revelation, and at the end of the hosting period the data was merged and the Snap data files sent to Revelation for analysis. Richard commented, "The main advantage of this is that Revelation can take the data file straight into Snap, it’s very quick, and there are no messy format conversions or risk of data loss or corruption." Richard was then able to cross-tabulate the survey results and present them graphically, incorporating them into reports and PowerPoint presentations. Richard is pleased with Snap, and says, "It's an excellent tool for the job - saves us time and enhances productivity. Its cross-tabs and reporting make surveys a breeze"
Richard also spoke highly of the SurveyShop Team, saying, "They've implemented quite a complex project very professionally. I found them to be knowledgeable, helpful and responsive. Handling eight different languages proved to be no problem for the SurveyShop Team". Tamara Gooderham, SurveyShop Research Manager says, "We have been able to assist numerous Snap users and other clients who started to request hosting services and other online survey work in 1998, shortly after the release of our Snap Internet module. Revelation’s survey was complex due to the requirement to merge the different language surveys, so we were pleased with the results."
A complete research solution
Revelation was able to deliver a complete research solution to its client by drawing on the resources of the SurveyShop Research Team. With the Team’s support with web hosting and response management, Revelation was able to provide multi-lingual surveys, and track and merge the responses. As Revelation is a long-term Snap user, it was then easy for the Team to send the results data to Revelation for analysis and presentation.
If you would like more information about Revelation Research, please contact Richard Ryan by Email at: Richard.ryan@revresearch.co.uk or visit their website at: www.revresearch.co.uk The consultancy also has a monthly newsletter, which can be subscribed to, free of charge, from the website.
For more information on the SurveyShop Research Team, visit www.surveyshop.com or call Tamara Gooderham on: Tel: 01454 280 261