Need Focus Groups? Who and How? Part 3

Part 3 - Whom do we recruit for the groups and how do we do it?

Whom you recruit depends upon the project objectives, and what (geographic and/or demographic) markets are important to you. 

Many large to medium size cities (www.greenbook.org) have a focus group facility that specializes in recruiting and hosting focus groups in that area, like our four in Virginia - (www.martinfocus.com) These companies will do your recruiting according to your project’s specifications (teens with long dark hair and more than 4 pimples who use mascara), and provide a focus group room for the moderator and participants, and and viewing room for the clients. They typically will take  care of food needs for all of the participants and clients, tape and video record the groups, and provide the moderator with all of the things she needs to have successful groups: flip charts, post-it notes for brainstorming, pads and pencils, etc. All the moderator has to do is fly in, moderate the groups, pick up the tapes and notes, and fly out to the next city. 

    Focus Group Meeting Room           

   

 Focus Group Viewing Room

If the purpose of the groups is to explore packaging options or advertising messages, the rooms can even be modified to display some different treatments for evaluation by the group participants, or even set up to look like the shelves in a store.

If you’re travel-averse, some of the facilities even have the capability of video-conferencing so that you can watch the groups from the safety and comfort of your office. Or in some cases, by linking in on your computer. Very cool!

There are some very important considerations as you are choosing a facility:

Reputation for sticking to the screening questionnaire:

Nothing is more infuriating than to go to the time and trouble and expense of traveling to a distant but crucial market, only to find that the people sitting in the conference room do not conform to the screening questionnaire. You want to talk with democrats, and everybody in the group is a moderate. Or they should frequent users of a product, and during the introduction you find out that no one in the group has even heard of it. (When that happens, the moderator can feel the client’s evil eye searing a hole into the back of his neck from behind the one-way glass, and he develops a very strong desire to share the pain with the facility.)

Reputation for “gittin’ ’er done” 

Of course it’s hard to find left-handed bass fisherwomen, but you still need this crucial market for your groups. You don’t want to find out your facility has recruited exactly two qualified participants (when the goal was ten) the day before you are supposed to catch three different planes in order to get to the groups. Good focus groups facilities will find a way to make sure you have groups full of qualified, intelligent and articulate participants. 

Location 

The facility should be located in a spot that is central to your target market. For instance, there are 49 facilities in Chicago - be sure you choose one centrally located for the people you need to recruit (such as shoppers of a particular store, or members of an ethnic group.) The moderator can help you with this selection, and in many cases, an experienced moderator will have first-hand experience with the facility in question, and will able to vouch for their integrity and ability to bring in the tough participants. 

How much do they charge, and for what? Some facilities charge an all-inclusive fee, while others charge a basic fee for facilities and recruiting, and everything else, such as audio and video taping, is extra. Most will charge cost plus handling for food, as well as any extras they incur, such as when the moderator has to have a Double Shot Mocha Latte with skim milk at 3:00 in the afternoon, or decides she needs an elephant for the 8:00 group. 

Which brings us to the next question:

Who should lead the discussion?