by Sanjay Vrudhula
In 1995, we were approached by a new client that ran a national syndicated media RDD telephone study. Consistent work for a call center is golden, so we were persistent in landing the work. The client, hesitant to try anything new on a well-known tracker, gave us a shot. On paper. Yes, a 35-minute survey on paper. The client said this was the last market they were doing on paper, and if we could finish it for them, they would give us a shot at a larger volume. We finished the very last paper survey of their 30+ year syndicated media study in their Florida market. We shipped all the paper sample and surveys back in boxes. Mission accomplished.
Because of our tenacity, the client said if we purchased the same CATI software as them we could develop an ongoing relationship and increase our volume. There is never a time when thousands of dollars is NOT a lot of money for a CATI shop, but for a small firm like us back then it was a struggle. But we knew the tradeoff of having steady work would only strengthen our firm. So, we bit the bullet, scrambled for funds and bought the CATI system our client was using. That was the beginning of our longest tenured study. It was 45 minutes in length, but we rose to the challenge. We created incentives to encourage good production and good quality. This line of work improved our revenue flow, gave us the tenacity to work on long surveys with specific instructions and gave us consistency to create a top-notch high-level staff. The work stayed in our shop for over 15 years.
We continue to strive to have work of this caliber to keep our staff sharp, from state and county wide BRFSS (CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Study-35 minutes) to the UT Austin Quality of Life Study (50 minutes) to the Medicare CAHPS studies which mandates arduous quality requirements). We partner with many academic institutions to either complement their survey research centers or support them fully. We’ve always prided ourselves in doing research the right way, no corners are cut.
Back then, our 12 little seats in Northwest Austin were barely afloat. After that initial and roll-of-the dice investment, we’ve grown some. With over 750 seats across the U.S., it’s been a journey that continues to grow but being proud of the research we do is still at the core of who we are. And it all started on paper.