Learning Curves What You Dont Know Can Kill You

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Understanding the concept of learning curves is critical in the deployment of process improvements. Misunderstanding learning curves can result in the abandonment of a project during the prototype phase because the new methodology under performs the established work processes.

This phenomenon was evident when Tiger Woods basically took a year off his game to learn a new swing. At nearly every point throughout that transitional year one could have argued that he took an enormous step backwards with his “new” approach. However, by the end of that year it was evident that he had successfully scaled a new plateau. John Henry and his quixotic race against the steam engine may also be an apt metaphor.

Any job has an associated learning curve. The learning curve is a model, ranging from a rule of thumb to a sophisticated mathematical representation, which predicts how long it will take, on average, for a new employee to become proficient at that job. “Proficient” is a key term in this definition as it captures both accuracy and speed.

It may take only a few minutes to memorize the steps associated with a particular task, it may take days, weeks or months to turn out 50 widgets an hour that are 99% defect free.

Training is typically used to show an employee how to perform a task, but activity on the job, under the watchful corrective eyes of an experienced coach, is needed to scale the learning curve at an appropriate rate. As in piano lessons, perfect practice makes perfect. Perfect practice is always slow because almost anything can be done wrong quickly. By forcing a slow enough pace to perform the task perfectly during the early going it then becomes possible to add speed without sacrificing accuracy.

The numbers element of a codified learning curve is essential in gaining speed at a rate that will build throughput without losing accuracy. Going too fast too early is self-defeating, but staying perfectly slow for too long obviously sacrifices productivity. People rarely understand how fast they can comfortably and accurately perform a task until this is demonstrated by experienced hands.

I once spent a summer, at a large apartment development, stapling felt underlayment to plywood floors in preparation for pouring concrete. I was reasonably dedicated, thought I was pretty fast, and whacked away at it for a few weeks doing a room every half-hour or so. The site foreman wandered by one day and watched me finish a unit. After a few minutes he picked up my roll of felt, asked for the stapler, and told me to follow him into the next room.

By the time I got into the next room he was walking into the room beyond that. He was stapling a whole room faster than I was walking between rooms. I knew exactly how to do the task, it had never occurred to me that it could be done that fast. Getting up to speed wasn’t that much harder, but it required a different mindset and recognition of the possibility.

Whether recognized or not the learning curve is always there. The impact of the learning curve on a process improvement or technology enhancement introduces a latency factor into the ultimate performance of the new system.

Experienced employees transferred from the legacy system to the new system experience a reset on some portion of their learning curve and their performance will lag for a period. Worse, if the new employees are forced to work the new system at their existing productivity rate then they miss the opportunity to engage in “perfect practice” and may be significantly delayed in regaining and surpassing their old performance.

Too many genuinely improved systems fail at this point if the project team has not budgeted for sufficient training. Because the experienced employees cannot afford to fall behind in their current work long enough to learn the new system, they reject the proposed improvement outright.

By the same token there are “improvements” which are marginally worse than the legacy or manual processes they were designed to replace. Without a well-defined learning curve established, in advance, it is impossible to determine whether the system is performing better or worse during the transitional period; and how long that transition should require.

Some consideration of the impact of learning curves is an important part of the change management process on any improvement effort. Taking this critical factor into account can eliminate many false starts.

Copyright © 2007, Lotus Pond Media

Steven Grant is a former customer service executive from American Express with over 25 yearsdevoted in Fortune 500 companies analyzing, improving and delivering on enhanced customer experiences.Share your experiences and suggestions on improving the customer experience at http://www.customerresearchcenter.com or email Mr. Grant at scgrant@customerresearchcenter.com

Team Inca Project Machu Picchu A Modern Wonder of the World

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Talk about team building!The Incan’s really had it together.They planned and they followed the plan with leadership and delegation.

The plan was to create a self sustainable community safe from the danger of attack.

They build their city on the roof top of the world.Now that’s thinking big.Did they have promotional products to reward workers?Incentive plans? I don’t know but I’m thinking they did something to keep the spirit up.

When we are building a business, it is fine to have grand ideas and plans, but we know there are steps along the way that need to be followed, and people along the way that we will want to work with and will want to have working for us.

Consider who is on your team.

Who do you want on your team.

Make the list as if your success depended on it because it does.

Your list should include:

o Yourself

o Employees

o Staff

o Suppliers & Support

o Customers

o Community and Family

Most of these people can be chosen.Choose well.

Plan for growth and expansion. Successful companies grow. You’ll need people to grow with you.It’s fine to delegate responsibility as you get busier.There has to be a trust / relationship to allow the delegation of duties and that trust works both ways.Work to achieve loyalty from your people.

10 steps to achieving max performance -through recognition

1. Timing, Timing, Timing. (Not Location, Location, Location)

2. Quality (not cheap, does the trick)

3. Appropriateness (choose the award to match the event)

4. First Impression, Last Impression

5. Corporate Image

6. Achievability of contests or programs

7. Image building. Communicate/advertise the program, the winners

8. Reciprocation creates obligation payoff – repayment

9. Consistency exudes reliability

10. Focus on your

- Business, plans, succession, success

- Product, products, services, people

- Customers, longtime and new.

- Suppliers, supporters, groups, associations.

- Employees, full time, part time, students.

Promotional products are not solve all your problems but they will certainly help solve certain issues of loyalty, trust and relationships.

I have no idea how the Incan’s achieved the level of success in building their empire. Each of the massive projects like Machu Picchu were only stepping stones to the success of the empire.We look now at the ‘lost city on the roof of the world’ in the Andes Mountains and wonder ‘how did they do that?’

Well I have always had a little saying that I used whenever I encountered a difficult or seemingly impossible task.The saying ‘Well they built the Pyramids, didn’t they?’so we should be able to do this little job.Sometimes it’s about getting it done, not getting it perfect.

Once you compare your project or job to another larger more difficult project or job, then you get a different perspective.Your job seems easier somehow.

Keep every thing in perspective.Think outside the box.There is a way.

I’m Rod WinningWinning FairWays Inc.Promotional Products for successhttp://www.winningfairways.com I can be reached at rod-fairways@hotmail.comor rod.winning@gmail.com

Rod Winning is the president of Winning Fairways Inc.Promotional Products for Success Rod has a background in business. info@winningfairways.com

Starting A Business How To Recognize A SmallDemand Business

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Starting a business in a niche market that has a high demand for your products or services is the fastest way to achieve financial success.But no matter what business you start, you must make certain that your products or services are in great demand within your potential market.

One of the quickest ways to bankrupt a business is to start it in a niche which has a small demand for what you’re selling.A small-demand business is a business that has very few customers, or a low demand for its products or services.This type business can ruin you financially faster than you think.

The characteristics of a small-demand business are:

1) You need to spend many hours finding prospects.

2) Sales are difficult to close, or products are difficult to sell.

3) Complaints and product repairs are problematic.

4) You have little to no chance for repeat business.

5) There are few leads from one customer to another.

6) The product is oversold, or the market is over-saturated with the product, making sales difficult.

The time to check the potential demand for your product or service is before you go into business. Too many people, when starting a new business, are misled by the thought of all the money they think they will make.They look only at the upside of the business.But, to increase your chance of success, you want to look at the downside, also.

For example, you need to ask yourself what will happen if you can’t sell as many products or services.Will you be ruined financially if left with an enormous debt?Or could you pay it off with just a little extra struggle, using income from another source?

To check the demand for your product or service:

- You need to find your market by choosing keywords or phrases related to your product or service.

- Type your keyword(s) in the suggestion box, and you will get a good idea whether your product or service is in great demand.

- Your product should have at least 10,000 monthly searches in the search engines to be considered in great demand.

This is the quickest and easiest way to avoid starting a small-demand business.Remember, the reason you started your business in the first place is to make money.So your ultimate goal should be to make a profit.

Your success in business is tied to the income it can produce in the long term.That means you must make sure that you sell your products or services to a ready market with high-profit potential.

To avoid financial disaster, always focus on starting your business in the most profitable markets for your products.

Do you want to learn how to be successful in any business? Want the best business tools to help you achieve financial success? Then go here: Success Learning Now [http://www.SuccessLearningNow.com]

Diamonique Fortune has been a successful home business operator and Internet Marketer for more than ten years.

Promotional Decorative Mouse Mats Are MultiPurpose Wonders

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In today’s world of fast paced everything, computers have become a mainstay in our day to day living.E-mail communication, keeping track of finances, on-line banking, chat rooms, business-necessary software programs and a myriad of other uses all keep us glued to our computer work stations in ever increasing time allotments.Is it any wonder that at times our tired eyes are ready to gaze away from the computer for a moment to get a different perspective?Oftentimes, when a person is weary of sitting at their desk and wants a change of scenery, one of the first things they do is glance around the room.Items on a desk are easy eye-catchers.What an opportunity for someone to take advantage of!Advertise on desk accessories, especially the mouse mats, and you have a sure fire, captive audience to read your promotional message.

Mouse mats are a comparatively recent time-tested item that have captured the minds of the ever-seeking marketers looking for new space to advertise.They have come up with modern graphics that are attractive, can come in matched sets with other desk accessories and still carry their message. Some are comical and light hearted, others more serious.The one thread they all have in common is the ability to grab the attention of the nearest spender and hook their interest for a moment.Statistically, that is really all it takes, one tiny moment, before we even realize that we are being wooed by another marketing attempt.

In a time when the public is literally barraged with companies trying to get their attention, it becomes increasingly more difficult to break through the maze of advertisements and create your own space.Mouse mats are used in a place that is usually removed from the busy street corner with the bustling traffic, noises, billboards and flashing lights.Inside an office building, when the noise subsides and the movement of people and taxis slows down, the enterprising marketer has found an ideal situation for unobtrusively continuing to hook our attention.Nothing terribly flashy and definitely not expensive, the mouse mat quietly sits and waits for us to see it and read its message: “Stop by and See Us for a Quick Lunch–Joe’s Deli”, “Have You Made Your YearlyAppointment at the Convenient Medical Clinic Across the Street?”, “How ‘Bout Them Mets! Call for Your Tickets Today!” and so on.The office can be the perfect place to advertise and the mouse mats provide the perfect opportunity.

More information about promotional items and promotional gifts can be found online by searching for the leading online suppliers of promotional products. You can tap into their wealth of experience to ensure that you have the perfect promotional gift or business gift to promote your business.

Tina Rinaudo is one of the leading lights in the UK promotional mouse mats industry. Tina is a key member of YesGifts, the UK’s fastest growing online promotional items resourcespecialising inpromotional pens, mugs, mouse mats, umbrellas, conference items and much more. For more information please visit www.yesgifts.co.uk.

How to Improve the Results of Your Sales Training Program

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Is your sales training program delivering the results that you want and more importantly need?Learn how to create a sales training program that actually delivers a positive return on your investment (ROI).

Simply speaking, the reason most sales training programs fail to deliver a positive return on investment and achieve the desired goal of improved performance, is that these programs are modeled on the K-16 educational experiences.If you look at the lack of progress in the public education arena, why should the corporate education and training experiences be any different?

How much is 10 times 10?You probably had the answer in your head before you finished reading the question. Now how much is 25 times 24? This time the answer is not coming as quickly and you may even say I do not know. The reason for this is simple.You practiced 10 time 10 many, many times, however you may have only computed 25 times 24 once or twice in your lifetime.

To bridge the gap between knowing how to do something as multiplying something to actual doing it requires numerous opportunities to apply new knowledge.Learning is the acquisition of knowledge. Performance is the application of knowledge.

Simply speaking, you cannot change years of behaviors and the supporting beliefs by a one to three day learning engagement.To achieve a positive return on the investment for those education and training dollars invested in sales training demands practice.Yet, most training and development sessions are very short in duration with no to limited opportunities for ongoing feedback and practice.

The focus as in the K-16 experience is about learning, getting more knowledge and skills. Yet, to realize performance improvement is really about developing the necessary attitudes and habits.

The other unstated obstacle to achieving a positive return on your sales training program is the belief that that an external force can create sustainable behavior change. Ongoing positive behavioral change must come from within each and every individual.Again, this demonstrates the importance of attitudes, those habits of thoughts.

Years ago, Dr. Don Kirkpatrick constructed a model of evaluating training for the business and corporate worlds.This model now known as the Kirkpatrick 4 Levels of Evaluation suggested that to achieve a positive return on investment requires actual performance and to see the impact of that performance within the organization (Levels 3 and 4). Yet, he realized that the majority of training focused on levels 1 and 2.Again, this focus is because of the conditioning from the k-16 experiences where content is king.

Simply speaking if you wish to achieve a positive return on your sales training investment then you may wish to take these actions:

Schedule your training in shorter sessions with a week in between to allow for practice

Incorporate attitudes and habits along with the necessary Self Leadership Skills and Knowledge

Infuse opportunities for practice

Measure the impact of your sales training program

By taking these proactive actions, you will achieve not only measurable results, but much happier sales people in the process.

Would you like to increase your sales? Then, you may find Simply Speaking, Increase Sales By a combination e book and e workbook sales training book that leverages marketing, selling & planning skills to increase sales at http://www.processspecialist.com/sales-training-book.htm

Do you want self improvement to small business help? Then register for FREE monthly teleconferences at http://www.processspecialist.com/seminars.htm. These seminars will help you increase your business productivity to personal productivity.

Please feel free to call me, Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Your Chief People Officer and Business Coach, who works with individuals and organizations that are tired of not being where they want to be. 219.759.5601

Why and How to Create an Information Product

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Have you put off, or given up entirely, the idea of writing that book, or creating a CD or DVD, for your business? Maybe you’ve let that idea slip away because you thought your business wasn’t suited to it. I mean, what you do is so individual and personal, or too complicated to explain, or so intuitive in nature, that it can’t be captured in a product.

Or maybe you already sell a product, and you can’t imagine what a book or CD would possibly do for your business.

These kinds of products- books, CDs, DVDs and their digital downloadable equivalents: pdfs, mp3s, mpegs – are called information products, ‘info products’ for short. And, if you are putting off creating one, you are doing a disservice to all the people who are waiting for you.

What’s the purpose of having an info product?

Some people will tell you the purpose is to have ‘multiple streams of income’ or to ‘fill your business to overflowing.’ It’s true, a good info product can create these kinds of results. But that’s not why you create one. If you create it for that reason, you are chasing the money, and you’ll end up chasing away your customers.

The purpose of an info product is to help the wallflowers.

A wallflower is that term used at dances and other social events where someone who is feeling a little shy or awkward will take a seat next to a wall, and plant themselves there, and never get out on the dance floor.

In junior high I was painfully shy, and lived as a wallflower. High school wasn’t much better, but I was able to retreat into punk rock and avoid the ‘popular’ high school scene. Even today, as my 20th high school reunion approaches, I can find myself in wallflower situations. I have better coping mechanisms, but it’s still painful.

How many wallflowers are in your business’ dance hall?

People who are struggling with something are unsure of themselves. They are upset, insecure, hesitant. They want to dance the tango, but they don’t want to look foolish and be rejected. Do you think it might be easier for those wallflowers if you met them at their seat with a glass of punch, and talked with them awhile, before you even asked them to dance?

A good information product doesn’t recreate your business to give the full dance-hall experience. It doesn’t deliver the same intimacy, or the same instruction, or the same in-depth support, or the same results that your main products or services do. That’s not its job.

The job of a good information product is to help people dance along off to the side, out of the spotlight. This will not only help them get some of the results they need, but it will also get them ready to get out on your dance floor and engage more deeply with what will really help them: your main products and services.

And, it’s not a bad thing that info products can create a nice flow of income for you as well. Ready to deliver that glass of punch and create an info product?

Keys to Creating an Info Product

o What seats are your wallflowers sitting in?

Identify the main hesitations of some of your reluctant customers. Some common hesitations have to do with:

- Is this weird, or is it normal (do people like me do this?).

- Does it really work?

- Do you really know what you’re doing?

- How does it work?

There are others, including ones specific to your business or industry. Search your heart, and also ask your newest clients what concerns they had before they purchased from you.

o Where does your record skip?

With new clients or customers and in newly-started classes, you give them explanations, key ideas, and foundational notions. These notions may be new to your clients, but you’ve repeated each of them 1000 times in different situations. At a dance, if the record skips, maybe it’s a DJ working the grooves, or maybe it’s just a bad scratch. (But you hear it repeating the same line over and over.)

When you repeat yourself it’s like a scratched record- and you’ve just found a prime place to focus on a product. Stop the skipping record, and turn it into a workbook, article, or recorded audio product.

o Don’t forget the how-to’s.

In your info product, you want to teach them something, and include instructions on how to actually do it. But, remember, that this is a ‘getting-ready / dance-along’ product, and not the dance itself.

This means that while you want your how-to’s to be complete, and you expect your reader or listener to apply them to some extent, don’t worry about trying to recreate the dance hall experience. Because you can’t.

Instead ask your heart to show you how much (or how little) they really need to know to feel comfortable dancing. Lead them up to the edge of the dance floor, maybe have them dance along to the music a few steps off to the side. And, believe me, people can get a lot out of dancing along off to the side.

Then, they’ll be ready for the dance hall. And that’s when you’ll find your dance card overflowing with new customers and clients. Go mix up that punch, and start serving out info products to all of your wallflowers.

Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line. He has helped hundreds of small business owners around the globe succeed in business without lousing their hearts. Get three free chapters of the book online: http://www.heartofbusiness.com

Three Reasons Why Key Rings Make Great Promotional Items

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The best and most popular promotional items all share two traits in common. These traits should always be the first things you look for when choosing promotional items and when weighing up what types of items will best suit your business. Choosing items that are both practical and portable is always important, and you’ll usually want to consider value for money as well.

Practicality

Items that serve a clear purpose are almost always the way to go when choosing promotional products. Pens, mugs, mouse mats, and of course key rings. Practical items are best simply because they get used, and every use generates some exposure for your company. The more often the item gets used, the better–and that’s why products such as key chains, pens and mugs are such successful promotional items. They’re items that everyone uses, and uses often. A key chain, for example, will get used several times a day–locking up the house before leaving for work, unlocking the car, and locking and unlocking supply cabinets and other secure places during work hours.

Portability

The second important factor is portability. A good promotional item is easily transported from place to place, so that it can be used in many different places to generate maximum exposure. That doesn’t mean that office-bound items such as mouse mats don’t make good promotional items, but it does mean that items such as key chains and pens, which can be transported in handbags and wallets, do have an extra advantage. When an unusual-looking key chain is used in front of other people, it generates interest in the item, and the advertising message it carries gets some attention too.

Valuefor money

Value for money isn’t an essential factor in terms of the publicity an item can generate, but it’s always an important consideration when buying promotional items. It can be difficult to strike a balance between quality and cost, but there’s an enormous variety of key rings and other promotional items available. Promotional key rings come in plastic, metal, and leather, and there is plenty of variety in terms of shape, color, utility and cost.

Key rings with extra functions offer particularly good value for money–there are key rings available that also include a calculator, bottle opener, or small torch. Items such as these–that are a little bit out of the ordinary–represent good value because of the goodwill they generate with the recipients of the items. In addition, giving items that have added functions mean they are more likely to replace any similar item that the recipient already owns. If you give a key ring and torch combo, for example, the recipient is almost guaranteed to replace the key ring they already own, because the added torch functionality makes your gift much more useful.

Don’t forget to also consider how well the items you choose will reflect the image of your company, and how well your chosen items and designs will complement any existing company logos or designs. Designing a cohesive advertising theme for all your promotional items goes a long way towards creating a recognizable company brand that will make you more memorable to customers and the general public.

Tina Rinaudo is one of the leading lights in the UK promotional keyrings industry. Tina is a key member of YesGifts, the UK’s fastest growing online promotional items resourcespecialising inpromotional pens, mugs, mouse mats, umbrellas, conference items and much more. For more information please visit www.yesgifts.co.uk.

Promotional Desk Top Radios

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Unlike the traditional mug or pen, the radio might be considered an atypical promotional gift. However, they are quickly increasing in popularity, particularly with the youth market. There are some very attractive and unusual desk top radio options available that are sure to be appreciated by the recipients of your gifts.

Three varieties of desk top radio exemplify the move towards funky and fun desk top designs–the Chill Out, the Mood Radio, and the Emotion Radio. Each design features a cube shaped radio with different accents that make each style unique. The Chill Out, for example, features for thick, sturdy legs, while the Mood Radio has an unusual curly antenna that sets off the style perfectly. All three radios are characterized by an interior light that flashes in a range of colors–blue, purple, green, red–and make the radio very eye-catching

Another unusual-looking radio is the Lindo, a silver model that features accents of black, blue or green. This radio doubles as a pen holder, with plenty of room both for pens and for your choice of company brand, slogan or other message. The added utility makes the Lindo a great gift for the office, as well as a very cost-effective option for valued staff or clients.

Stylish in silver, with blue, red or green accents, the Bloom Radio is a great-looking promotional radio option. This model features a gate-fold style design, with an alarm clock on one fold, and a photo frame on the other. This is another great gift for the office, and with the ability to personalize the frame with a favorite photo, these are sure to be kept in pride of place on the desks of customers, clients or staff.

If space is a concern–if you’d prefer a radio with a smaller footprint to make sure all your recipients will have room to display them–the Ultra is an excellent choice. With a footprint of just 27 x 66 millimeters, this radio is small enough to fit on almost any desk. The slim and sleek aluminium finish makes this radio good-looking as well as practical, and with a larger-than-average print area, this radio is also a great way of getting your advertising message noticed.

There are promotional desk top radios to suit a wide variety of tastes and budgets, and these practical, stylish items are sure to be a winner. The recipients of your gifts will love getting an item that not only looks good, but is functional as well.

More information about promotional items and promotional gifts can be found online by searching for the leading online suppliers of promotional products. You can tap into their wealth of experience to ensure that you have the perfect promotional gift or business gift to promote your business.

Why not request a quick quote from online suppliers; you will find that they will give you great value for money providing you with the best quality promotional item or promotional product for your business conventions, exhibitions, trade shows and conferences. Don’t forget to check out their special offers and great deals on selected items.

Tina Rinaudo is one of the leading lights in the UK promotional radios [http://www.yesgifts.co.uk/radios-department.html] industry. Tina is a key member of YesGifts, the UK’s fastest growing online promotional items resourcespecialising inpromotional pens, mugs, mouse mats, umbrellas, conference items and much more. For more information please visit www.yesgifts.co.uk.

When You Know Your Purpose You Will Realize Ongoing Success

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Many solo professionals have incredible passion, but unfortunately for many it is misdirected. These misdirected actions result in more failures and less ongoing successes.

What is the source of misdirection?Simply speaking, it is not knowing their purpose. After working with numerous solo professionals including sales professionals, business coaches, mortgage brokers, realtors, financial advisors, health care practitioners and insurance agents, I have personally witnessed a lack of a clearly articulated and crystallized purpose.

These hard working and dedicated solo professionals have tons of passion.They can even answer the question What is passion.However, they cannot answer the question what is your purpose?And that is the unstated obstacle.

Purpose for me is the why we are here on this earth and what gifts do we bring to this great table of life.When we are babies our purpose is to eat, sleep and grow.Then as we become toddlers our purpose evolves to include exploring our world. A few years later, we become even more inquisitive and our purpose changes to include others.As adults, our purpose changes again as we look to find partners, have children and become positive contributors to our society. All during this time, we become aware of our gifts.

When I started as a solo professional, I had not crystallized nor committed my purpose to writing.However through personal growth and development and a great coach, I took the time to put my purpose as well as my gifts to pen and paper.This action was the result of tremendous reflection.

If you are a solo professional and are having challenges in achieving ongoing success, then I suggest for your to take the time to write your purpose statement.Because when you take such action, you will better understand and align your passion. For passion is the energy that comes from our purpose.If you do not know your purpose, then you are probably misdirecting your passion.

Are you where you want to be?To find out where you are, then M.A.P. for Success, a FREE email course may help you begin to chart a course of business, professional or personal success. Visit http://www.processspecialist.com/action-plan.htm.

If you are seeking additional small business help to professional development, then these FREE monthly teleconferences may be of interest. Register at http://www.processspecialist.com/seminars.htmto learn how to increase your business productivity to personal productivity for ongoing success.

Please feel free to contact me, Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Your Chief People Officer and Business Coach for individuals and organizations that are tired of not being where they want to be.

Market Research Stay in Touch with Field Or Else

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Staying in touch with field suppliers is tough. It’s one of the hardest things to get right in qualitative fieldwork. You must manage logistics difficulties and troubleshoot recruiting problems immediately to get the respondents you want. But the reality is this. You won’t always be next to a telephone or at your computer when troubles arise.

Since qualitative fieldwork rarely falls nicely into place, expect your field suppliers to have questions for you as your project unfolds. Field needs your help to keep your project on track. Recruiters may not be able to move forward with your project without your direction. If you want your fieldwork to be a success, return field’s calls and e-mails within a couple of hours, ideally within minutes. (How would you react if you asked field for a recruiting update and then didn’t hear back from them for 24 hours?) Delays caused by being slow to respond to field can make your project more expensive. Worse, delays threaten the overall quality of your respondents.

The dangers of delays

Even before your project begins, you can lose your tentative hold at a focus facility by not responding to field suppliers in time. Which means you may have to go to an alternate facility that’s less desirable and more expensive.

Delaying screener approval or delaying the okay to begin recruiting starts a cascade of events. Less time to recruit means less time to troubleshoot. That means you may be forced to relax specs that you weren’t planning to relax. Which means your respondents may not be what you wanted. And if relaxing your specs isn’t an option, you may end up with fewer respondents than you wanted.

Once adequate recruiting time is lost, respondent quality often suffers. When recruiters have to scramble to get the recruit completed, it can be at the cost of what you set out to achieve. Reputable recruiters know how much time they need to recruit your project properly, so get the recruiting started without delay. And keep it going by staying in touch with field. Last-minute recruiting is risky and costs you more.

Lack of time is money (lost)

You also lose money when field has to tell respondents who have returned their calls that the project is on hold because they’re waiting for further instructions from “the client.” Respondents can’t be expected to sit on hold and wait to hear back. You run the risk that field might not be able to re-contact these people. Respondents may become upset that they’ve returned a recruiter’s call only to be told they will have to be called back. They may no longer be available or interested in participating. It’s bad practice to let respondents go without recruiting or terminating them.

A timely word about respondent recruiting

Once recruiting is underway, field needs to contact as many potential respondents as possible, as quickly as possible. This is particularly true with low- or unknown-incidence projects. Field makes many behind-the-scenes decisions, and how much manpower to assign to your project is one of them. Don’t leave recruiting to chance by leaving it to the last minute.

How to keep the communication channel open

If you’re usually slow to respond to e-mails, instruct field to contact you by phone. If you’re easier to reach by e-mail than phone, ask to be contacted that way. Tell your field suppliers about the best way of reaching you. Tell them how long to expect to wait before they will hear back from you. Ask them for the same consideration. Establish these ground rules before your project goes into field.

Another option, when other matters limit your availability to field, is to brief your field suppliers on “Plan B” ahead of time. That way, if problems occur, field will know when to switch gears and which direction to go.

Respondent recruiters are tasked with a mighty responsibility. Don’t make their job more difficult than it already is. Timely communication is the driving force behind successful qualitative fieldwork. So stay in touch throughout the entire process. Make yourself available to field. They will shine. And so will you.

Mark Goodin is President of Aaron-Abrams Field Support Services, the respondent recruitment and fieldwork management specialists for qualitative market researchers. Subscribe to “Field Smarts,” the monthly e-newsletter that helps you improve your qualitative fieldwork. Receive a free report when you sign up at http://www.aaronabrams.com