CATI@home: international telephone interviews without borders

Today’s globalized world requires companies to look beyond national borders to expand their business. International market research plays a strategic role in understanding new markets, target audiences, and global trends. 

In this perspective, a network of native-speaking interviewers working remotely is no longer just an option but a necessity. At FFIND, we have foresightfully embraced this evolution, embracing the reality of CATI@home: a revolution in the landscape of quantitative market research. 

Our approach to remote work, dating back to 2018, is based on two fundamental needs: 

1. Scalability: The increasing demand for quantitative data for international research required a flexible solution to carry out efficient and accurate multi-country studies. Our physical call center, with a limited number of stations, represented a scalability obstacle and was unable to keep pace with the growing market demands. 
2. Satisfaction of our interviewers. At FFIND, we are not only very attentive to the needs of our clients, but we also pay great attention to those of our team. We believe that achieving a healthy work-life balance and fostering a flexible work environment are crucial for everyone’s happiness and productivity. 

But that’s not all! Having native-speaking interviewers offers two invaluable advantages. Native-speaking interviewers are able to grasp the linguistic and cultural nuances of each country, ensuring flawless communication with the interviewees. Increased response rate: interviewees are naturally more inclined to participate in a survey conducted by a native-speaking interviewer, resulting in a significant increase in collected data. 

The 2020 pandemic triggered an unprecedented acceleration in the transition to remote work. At FFIND, we have seized this challenge as an opportunity to evolve and adapt to new needs. In just three days, in March 2020, our network of telephone interviewers was fully operational from home, ensuring work continuity without sacrificing data quality and delivery punctuality. 

CATI@home: The key to high-quality multi-country market research 

We have overcome the limitations of traditional fieldwork! At this point, you may already be wondering: how can this approach ensure high levels of quality and efficiency, especially in international research? Data quality is the foundation on which every market research is based. We reveal how we have optimized CATI@home to specifically meet the needs of research. 

1. A global and multicultural team: Thanks to our team of native-speaking interviewers covering over 35 languages, even in the most remote countries such as Madagascar and Colombia, we are able to intercept events or interpret local news with cultural sensitivity that could influence the data collection process, participation, refusal rates, thus avoiding bias. This ensures unprecedented global coverage. 
2. Cutting-edge technology: Our interviewer shift booking system is simple and intuitive and allows us efficient interviewer management. The dedicated login screen ensures security and control for each operator. 
3. Attention to quality: The training process of our interviewers ensures accurate and professional interviews. Familiarity with the questionnaire, professionalism, and courtesy are the basis of our rigorous training. The training goal is to acquire skills such as neutrality towards responses and adaptation to the interviewee’s pace, avoiding any interpretation or influence that may create bias. We are committed to developing skills that positively impact the final results, enhancing the ability to distinguish between spontaneous and assisted mentions, and using probing techniques and maximum attention. Furthermore, thanks to real-time quality control, we constantly monitor 10% of completed interviews for each project, ensuring high standards of precision and reliability. 
4. A team of ambassadors: Each operator becomes a FFIND Ambassador, simplifying the recruitment process and building trust relationships with the client. 
5. Competitive pay rate: We offer a pay rate above the average of local call centers, recognizing the value and professionalism of our interviewers and ensuring greater motivation and dedication in their work. 

Success Stories: CATI@home solves critical situations 

Having a local team allows us to provide timely responses to exceptional events, and make strategic and informed decisions quickly. This is where CATI@home truly makes a difference for your research and field management. 

You will remember the 2023 earthquake in Morocco. Thanks to the report from our local team, we promptly postponed the field to a more suitable time. This timely action helped to avoid potential complications and ensure the safety of our interviewers, reducing potential field loss costs, and the obvious difficulties in recruiting participants: the number of refusals would have increased as people would have had priorities and more urgent concerns after the seismic event, and less availability to participate in interviews. Our priority is always the safety of our interviewers, and in an emergency context like the one following the earthquake, it was essential to avoid potential complications and risks. 

Another example concerns a research project in Estonia on online work. Our local team provided valuable support, helping us find official publications and government data. Thanks to this collaboration, we were able to ensure further verification of the collected data. 

Thanks to our network of interviewers and their collaboration, we are able to address unexpected situations and resolve any doubts quickly and effectively. 

With FFIND and our CATI@home, you choose a reliable partner that transforms the challenges of telephone market research into competitive advantages, ensuring high-quality results and maximum satisfaction. 

If you want to learn more about how we could help you manage your fields, contact us!