I really appreciate it when a client asks for representative screening criteria in a country/region and doesn’t assume that one cap fits all. If I can’t answer immediately, I make it my business to take some time and provide the requisite information. This might not even be a bid, just a query for something they are thinking down the line. On the plus side, it used to be a heck of a lot worse, but now clients are a little more understanding and make less screening assumptions. However, there are still a few that may ‘overlook’ screening on occasion!
These days the demographics within a country can be quite different, e.g., in the UK. A client wishing to speak to a certain demographic where household income/personal income is a factor can vary dramatically from London to other regions of the UK. Recently we had a study looking at homeowners where the client wanted to compare properties of a similar value throughout the UK. They got quite a shock when I showed them a one-bedroom flat in central London equating in value to a 20-bedroom estate in the Highlands, minus the grouse shooting!
Finding the metric that marries the two opposites is what we like clients to ask us, helping us develop our screening to accurately portray the target population. Often a suitable solution can be found and in the end the client will notice the difference in the data. The other positive is, I can then refrain from mentioning the obvious of what happens to those that assume!
We have successfully delivered international data to many of our clients with very specific and hard to reach audiences. We deliver not only to branding and research agencies, but also to global corporations, management consultants and other such organisations that require primary research data.