Non briefs lead to poor proposals...

The last few weeks has seen the emergence of the bad brief brigade…those lovely people who contact you and ask how much will it cost to do some Telemarketing or to have some focus groups..

Immediately I reach for the Customeyes Research rate card and run my finger down to Telemarketing and calibrate instantly how much to charge….yes that’s the correct amount, that will be £326.89 please.Thank you, perfect, can you start in ten minutes? Of course we can,let me make a cup of tea and we’ll be right on it….ridiculous…

There is without a doubt plenty of customer research based work out there if you know where to look.Unfortunately there is also a lot of work that starts with the worst briefing process possible.

Telemarketing

Last week we were asked for a Telemarketing quote.After a brief chat where the broadest of parameters were outlined we asked to meet the prospect so that we could get an idea of the detail of the project.This was side stepped and the prospect just wanted some “ball park” numbers so that they could work out budgets.Key points were asked for relating to expected number of appointments that could be made, what “rough” appointment to sale ratios could they use so as to gauge success…absolutely unbelievable…

I am amazed that prospects expect companies to provide quotes for work without a full and proper brief.
In our case we were left with no alternative but to decline the request for a quote.It is impossible to provide any accurate proposal without a full brief that gives all the information, numbers of calls needed, time frame, desired outcomes.A meeting after a lengthy first telephone conversation is also a good idea as is time to reflect. Too often there is a requirement to give instant feedback which is not always the way forward.

Guesstimates

In the past we have provided quotes based on flimsy briefs only to find that we have been told that we were too expensive or too cheap.”We are using another company as their costs were in line with our requirements…” How did the other company manage to quote I wonder? What are the requirements?What were you seeking to achieve?

With out a good brief it is impossible to give an accurate pricing and timing structure.If the prospect can’t supply the detail needed then alarm bells should ring as they probably won’t be happy with the research what ever the response rate you achieve for them.
Too many proposals are being given that reflect badly on the research sector.As an industry we are asked to conduct research that provides detail upon which companies make decisions.The starting point of such a process should also contain detail and not guesstimates.

Good briefs get good results…