Doing Business
Are You Being Charged A CPI?
08/26/2009
Does your online market research provider charge you a cost per interview (CPI) for each completed survey? If so, next time you call for a bid, ask them why.
I've been astounded by this practice since Web-based surveys first hit the scene. I have to assume that they were thinking along the lines of "we've always charged them a CPI for telephone, mall, door-to-door and mail surveys, why not charge them one for this new medium also?" Well, I'll tell ya why not: There are no data collection costs. There is no labor, long distance and no postage. Your field service programs the questionnaire, sends the invitations and goes out for a nice lunch on your CPI.
Sometimes your provider is not the one to blame. Many of the Web survey software companies charge a price per complete simply because they can. If your field service has to pay it, you have to pay it. Though I've never understood why a software maker felt a need to charge us per complete. Especially if we are hosting it ourselves. I suppose it's just another opportunity to charge their customers for something.
Now, there are exceptions to this. If you are using a panel (theirs or a 3rd party's), you should fully expect to pay a CPI. They are either paying money to a sampling provider or are paying incentives to their own panel members. Not to mention the high cost of maintaining and replenishing a robust panel.
Also, if you are conducting a very high number of interviewers (5,000+). Bandwidth does cost money, but you shouldn't expect to pay for it directly if you're doing 100-500 interviews.
If you're not conducting a large number of interviews or using a panel, stand up for your rights and tell your programmers that you do not feel you should be paying a CPI.
I've been astounded by this practice since Web-based surveys first hit the scene. I have to assume that they were thinking along the lines of "we've always charged them a CPI for telephone, mall, door-to-door and mail surveys, why not charge them one for this new medium also?" Well, I'll tell ya why not: There are no data collection costs. There is no labor, long distance and no postage. Your field service programs the questionnaire, sends the invitations and goes out for a nice lunch on your CPI.
Sometimes your provider is not the one to blame. Many of the Web survey software companies charge a price per complete simply because they can. If your field service has to pay it, you have to pay it. Though I've never understood why a software maker felt a need to charge us per complete. Especially if we are hosting it ourselves. I suppose it's just another opportunity to charge their customers for something.
Now, there are exceptions to this. If you are using a panel (theirs or a 3rd party's), you should fully expect to pay a CPI. They are either paying money to a sampling provider or are paying incentives to their own panel members. Not to mention the high cost of maintaining and replenishing a robust panel.
Also, if you are conducting a very high number of interviewers (5,000+). Bandwidth does cost money, but you shouldn't expect to pay for it directly if you're doing 100-500 interviews.
If you're not conducting a large number of interviews or using a panel, stand up for your rights and tell your programmers that you do not feel you should be paying a CPI.