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The Problem:
SEEK
Limited is the operator of Australia and New Zealand's
largest and most successful Internet employment site
- seek.com.au and seek.co.nz. In 2003 and early 2004,
SEEK conducted an extensive research program across
a range of clients, job seekers and internal staff and
employed a US-based online survey tool. Whilst SEEK
found the tool to be relatively inexpensive to operate,
as SEEK developed more numerous and more complex survey
projects, it became clear that the US software held
limitations in significant areas:
- survey
functionality - the program offered limited flexibility
in areas such as custom survey design, question limits,
and attrition reporting,
- while
the duplication or modification of past surveys was
feasible, it proved difficult and time-consuming,
- US-based
features built into the software tool, such as time
zone settings, affected report accuracy, and
- built-in
branding for the software tool (including the phrase
'Powered by..') limited its use - and while not an
obstacle for internal surveys, could not be used in
professional external communication.
The
software employed was effectively a 'no frills' survey
tool that proved perfectly acceptable and easy to use
for informal and simple survey work, but could not meet
the demands of the more complex and professional research
projects SEEK was developing.
SEEK required a solution that offered flexibility, the
option to easily tailor and duplicate surveys and individual
questions, and the ability to control branding to deliver
a professional image in both internal and external research
efforts.
The Solution:
Following
extensive research of the Australian and international
online survey market, SEEK selected the PeoplePulse
survey tool from Quinntessential for the following reasons:
- Product
Flexibility -
PeoplePulse is a comprehensive online survey tool
that addresses the problems that SEEK were facing
with the US-based tool. As a locally developed and
hosted tool, it offers rich survey creation and reporting
functionality, and this flexibility gave PeoplePulse
a clear advantage over other similar online survey
products.
- Approach
to new product development
- From the outset, Quinntessential made it clear that
they were happy to work with SEEK to customise the
tool for SEEK's unique needs. At their own expense,
Quinntessential added new survey branching and skip
logic functionality, added the ability to conduct
ranking questions, and also added a new 'cross tab'
report to the system to allow reporting and data analysis
to be conducted online. These were all features that
significantly enhanced the value of the tool for SEEK.
- Responsive
- Quinntessential was proactive, prompt and professional
in all dealings with SEEK. SEEK's market research
coordinator, Ana Zatezalo, felt Quinntessential's
responsiveness and attitude towards new product enhancements
was a key factor. She said:
 We
felt that from the contract negotiation stage through
to final product training and product-related queries,
Quinntessential showed a genuine willingness to work
with SEEK to deliver the best possible solution to
meet our needs. They made us feel that no request,
however small, was too much trouble.
The
Verdict:
Simon
Waring, Communications Manager for SEEK Limited, believes
that,
SEEK
is a commercially focused, research driven organisation,
and after we had made the practical decision to adopt
the PeoplePulse tool following our review of the market,
the transition was undoubtedly made even easier by
the service and support our research team received.
Based on our experiences to date, I have no hesitation
in recommending Quinntessential and PeoplePulse to
any organisation looking to gather feedback using
a user-friendly, feature-rich web-based survey tool.
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