The cost of a complete, decomposed
A CPI is four numbers wearing one coat, and which of the four is moving tells you whether the price is negotiable.
Outline. Each heading below carries one line saying what the section has to establish. Expand each into two to four paragraphs, put at least one number or worked example in the piece that nobody else could publish, then delete this note.
A cost per interview gets negotiated as though it were one number. It is at least four, and three of them are fixed by the brief rather than by the supplier.
The four components
Respondent reward, screen-out load, panel maintenance and acquisition, margin. Give the rough shape of each.
Incidence sets the screen-out load, and the brief sets incidence
Show why a low-IR study is expensive for a reason that has nothing to do with the supplier.
The component that gives when you push
Usually reward or margin. Say what happens to the data when it is the first one.
Length of interview is priced badly almost everywhere
Per-complete pricing against the hourly rate the respondent experiences. Link the hourly-rate piece.
What a quote should itemise
The itemisation a buyer should be able to ask for, and why most quotes do not carry it.
Where we will not compete
The floor below which the reward stops being defensible, and what we say instead of quoting it.
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What a Partner Audit Changed
A supply partner walked the participant entry end to end before opening volume. Three of the things they asked for were things we had been meaning to do.
4 min read -
Reading a sample supplier’s quality report
Most quality reports are written to survive being read, not to be used. A handful of questions separate the ones with measurement behind them.
4 min read -
Three hops and the loss of provenance
Sample rarely travels in a straight line. Each time it changes hands something specific is lost, and by the third hand nobody can tell you where a respondent came from.
4 min read
