There are a few ways of recruiting respondents for market research, and we usually divide them in two methods: free-find and list recruitment.

Free-find recruitment means you can use any avenues you want to recruit participants. This includes your own database, street recruitment, social media recruitment, etc.

On the other hand, when faced with the list recruitment you get a list of possible participants from your client and you recruit exclusively from that list. This kind of recruitment has its pros and cons, and we are going to dive into some of them in this blog post.

Working from a Quality List

Having a quality list to recruit from can make the recruitment process seamless. Make sure to check the details of the list with your client. Ask them when the list was updated, and if they have all necessary details – such as name and contact information.

Sometimes, in healthcare or B2B research, the clients will only provide you with the list of hospitals or companies to call through. This cold calling process can make the recruitment last longer than expected, as it is hard to get to individuals when calling general numbers. Additionally, the recruitment team will need to do more desk research to find out which professionals work in a given establishment and who to look for when calling.

This is why it is essential for you to check if the contacts you receive are general or direct. Additionally, you need to investigate whether the list was updated recently, to check if some of the individuals have retired or switched hospitals/companies.

Communicate your concerns with the client and see if they are able to provide you a more detailed list in this case.

Be Realistic About the Hit Rates

When recruiting, we usually work on a 1:10 ration. Meaning, we usually book 1 in 10 respondents.

However, this number changes based on the criteria. In consumer recruitment, it is usually lower, as the criteria is not that detailed. Yet, if the project involves a certain healthcare specialty, or high net worth individuals, the ratio will grow.

Because of this, you need to ensure that the list you received is lengthy enough. Also, check with the client if you would be able to employ some of the free-find techniques in case their list does not provide desired results.

Are the Contacts Warm?

Warm lists are the lists of potential respondents who were already notified about your research and are expecting someone to reach out to them. Check if your client gave them a heads up that the research will be happening. Additionally, make sure that the client obtained consent for contacting, and for sharing their data with a third-party (which is you in this case).

Furthermore, recruiting from a warm list is typically more successful than from a cold list.

In Conclusion

Before you agree to recruit from a list, make sure you have checked all of the above. The recruitment time will depend on these factors, and your price should too.

And lastly, be honest with your client. If the list is not that good and you forecast that recruitment might be challenging, try to advise the client to keep the free-find techniques in mind.

Never miss our blog posts by subscribing to our newsletter.