As Lori discussed in the post Recruiting Agency + User Testing = Nirvana, Evantage typically uses a recruiting agency to recruit participants for user studies. Recruiting agencies can be invaluable when identifying and scheduling participants for studies, but I have learned that is important to work closely with them to ensure the participants who are recruited are the ones that everyone intended they be. Likewise, it is important to find a firm that you have confidence in and that has the ability to find the participants you need. Based on my experience of working with recruiting agencies, I have put together a list of tips that you may find useful when working with agencies.
Visit the Agency
If you are unfamiliar with an agency or are just starting to work with them, visit their office. Talk to the people that will be doing the actual recruiting. Listen to them conduct calls.
Shop Around
Don’t go with the first recruiting quote you receive. Some agencies (but not all) tack on fees for rescheduling, project management, and mailing gratuities to participants. You may also find that one agency will charge $150 per recruit while another agency charges $250 per recruit.
Read the Fine Print
When shopping around, be careful about the fine print. Ask for a sample of the final contract or proposal. Recently, I was shopping around and an agency whose numbers looked good had a horrendous final contract that only guaranteed that they would get paid, we were not guaranteed that they would actually recruit participants.. On top of that, the contract contained unreasonable requests for money up front.
Know How it’s Done
Ensure you know how the agency will be recruiting users (phone, email, etc.) and how the client (if applicable) would like participants recruited. Outline the communication method in the contract you have with the agency. If you are providing the agency with a list of people to contact and only want participants contacted by phone, only pass on their phone numbers. Do not pass on other contact information such as email.
Look for Creative Problem-Solvers
Search for agency that has experience with alternate ways of recruiting, e.g., Craigslist, offering incentives for referrals, crowdsourcing. Ask them to describe methods they have used in the past for difficult recruitments.
Look for Domain Experience
Look for an agency that has experience recruiting the type of participants you need such as healthcare or financial. Agencies that have experience recruiting the type of users you are looking for can typically recruit users faster and can assist with crafting screener questions.
Think Local
If you’re recruiting locally, consider hiring a local agency. If you’re recruiting nationally, look for an agency that has multiple locations through out the US or a database of participants located throughout the US. If you are working with a local agency who specializes in local recruits but you need a national list of participants, the recruiting may take longer, may be more expensive, and your participants may not match the criteria you are looking for.
Know the Source
If you need to buy a list of people to recruit from, ensure the agency is very clear and up front about where the list comes from. Share this information with your client. Ask the agency if you can reuse this list in the future for other recruitments or clients.
Write a Screener
Always create a screener for the agency to use. A screener is a list of questions the agency will ask potential participants. Questions on the screener are intended to screen out anyone who does not meet the target profile.
Walk Through the Screener
Set up a meeting with the recruiting agency to go over the screener in detail. I have made the mistake of getting too comfortable with an agency and simply emailing the screener to them without a meeting. This has resulted in poor recruits because not all of the questions were understood and the agency let some participant requirements slide.
Rely on the Agency’s Experience
Ask the agency for recommendations on ensuring you get the number of participants needed even if you have some no shows. Recruit more than the number of participants you need. Schedule your over-recruits a day or two after everyone else so you can cancel them if necessary. Typically, you only need to pay over-recruits half of what you pay the other participants if you don’t use them. You only need to pay them to have set aside the time, but if you’re not using them for their time; they do not need the full incentive. If the budget allows, recruit floaters. Floaters are paid more than other participants, and they are asked to set aside a 2-3 hour time frame that other participants are scheduled during. If a participant does not show up, you can use the floater instead.
Review the List
When the list of participants is provided to you by the agency, carefully review the participants that have been recruited. Review your screener again to ensure the list of participants is what everyone had intended.
Feel free to add your tips or share experiences you’ve had working with recruiting agencies in the comments.
Tags: Recruiting
