When scheduling participants for a phone study, in-person interview, or moderated usability study, I ALWAYS call them to set up the appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I do this for several reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Can I easily understand the participant? Can they speak in coherent sentences? Do they seem enthusiastic about the study? Were they fully honest when completing the screener?<\/p>\n
I prefer to do my own recruiting because I think it saves time, it\u2019s less expensive for my clients (than using a third-party panel), and I can immediately begin to develop rapport with the participant.<\/p>\n
At the exact same time I am developing rapport and\u00a0testing articulation, I can collect additional data about the participant \u2013 saving a few minutes of interview time later.<\/p>\n
I try\u00a0to do anything I can to put the participant at ease and earn their trust. Sometimes participants are suspicious of your intentions. Some aren\u2019t familiar with a certain term (and a learning moment for me!).<\/p>\n
When scheduling on the phone (rather than back + forth over email), I can be more flexible with the appointment start and stop times \u2014 to better accommodate their schedule (or mine).<\/p>\n
Intercept people from website or email them an invitation to an online survey (the screener<\/a>).<\/p>\n I\u00a0gave\u00a0up cold calling participants about a year ago, and instead use Calendly to schedule the\u00a0\u201cintroduction\u201d call. From my list of qualified respondents, I email a link to schedule a 10-minute phone call with me. The purpose of the call is to confirm their information and commitment, explain the study, and schedule our session\u00a0\u2014 not conduct the study. That’s later. In the past, for every 30 people I called (those who signed up for the study!), one would\u00a0actually pick up the phone. And when I did reach them, half the time I inadvertently woken them up or they were\u00a0in the checkout lane of the grocery store.<\/p>\n Subject line:<\/strong> Schedule [Gratuity Amount] [Brand\/Client] Study Hello [name], We’d love to include you in our upcoming 1-hour research study about [topic]. If you’re still interested, please visit [Calendly link] to schedule a quick 10-minute appointment with me. Choose a time that works best for you, and I will call you with more information. In our 10-minute call, I will:<\/p>\n If you participate in our 1-hour study, I will send you [gratuity amount] as a thank you. Thank you so much! I hope that you will be able to participate. Kristine [My contact information]<\/p>\n After I recruit them, I send confirmation and reminder emails prior to the study.<\/p>\n\n\n2. Set Up\u00a0Introduction Call<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Example Introduction Email<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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3. That’s it, It’s Just 2\u00a0Steps<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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