As the research world continues to shift towards more agile and virtual methodologies, the nature of the relationship between agencies and fieldwork providers has had to change as well.
If you are joining us for this series for the first time, we recently sat down with one of our long-standing partners (a research director at a global healthcare strategy agency) to get their take on the state of the industry. For them, the difference between a simple vendor and a true partner often comes down to a single word: confidence.
Below, we share the insights our partners are telling us about why proactivity and joined-up experience are the ultimate differentiators in healthcare fieldwork.
In the competitive bidding phase, a research director is looking for more than just a price point; they are looking for reassurance that the project will actually be delivered.
- Evidence over Estimations: Partners prefer a response that demonstrates specific experience, such as having delivered twelve or more respondents in a particular therapy area before, rather than just providing generic incidence rates.
- Audience Profiling: Having deep audience profiling at your fingertips, knowing exactly how many treaters exist in a specific area, is what provides the necessary confidence to move forward.
- A Joined-up Experience: Researchers often need to show their end-clients that they are working with partners who have deep experience recruiting particular respondent types, creating a show joined-up experience.
The Delivery Mindset
Once a project kicks off, our partners look for a team that lives and breathes the research alongside them, rather than treating it as a transactional task.
In a cliched word, I suppose proactivity is the main thing... it's just quite nice to know that it's kind of taken care of and it's not going to drag on too long."
- Anticipating Hurdles: Proactivity means getting ahead of the little things, such as organising specific adverse event training for moderators immediately rather than waiting to be chased.
- Communication that Fits: In high-pressure qualitative work, being able to communicate through internal channels like Teams or instant groups provides a level of reassuring accessibility.
- The Last-minute Save: When a respondent drops out at the last second, a partner who makes the effort to call around and try and get somebody in last minute is invaluable.
- Thoughtful Reporting: Getting daily updates earlier in the day allows researchers to actually discuss something or action anything.
- Managing the Difficult Criteria: Instead of immediately asking to relax quotas, a strong partner investigates why people are screening out and provides concrete evidence, like speaking to doctors directly to show why a criteria might be unrealistic.
At m360 Research, we know that our clients are under immense pressure to deliver perfect results to their pharmaceutical stakeholders. We have realised that our role isn’t just to provide a sample; it is to manage the logistical stress of the project so they don’t have to chase both ends.
- Agile Analysis: When timelines are tight, suggesting proactive solutions such as using multiple analysts for a large project can be the difference between a standard delivery and a groundbreaking success.
- Managing Quotas: Keeping a constant eye on interlocking quotas and redirecting recruitment before a segment fills up is essential for maintaining the project’s integrity.
Ready to start recruiting from the world’s largest healthcare panel? Share your specific requirements today, and we’ll go the extra mile to deliver for you.
