Our Services

Market research should have a purpose — a question to answer.

SCI operates throughout the nation to get your problems solved and your questions answered. We gather actionable and accurate data for your organization. Our analysis services are comprehensive. We provide analytical reports and on-site presentations.

We will triangulate new market ideas, market surveys and focus group research to fine-tune marketing strategies. Testing your hypotheses about the market will provide a strong foundation upon which to expand or tailor your business.

Use market research as a foundation for your strategic planning objectives. Market research supports informed decisions by explaining, predicting, monitoring, discovering or testing behavior.

Learn more about our services:

Quantitative Methods

Telephone

CATI

We're all about competence and security.

SCI's Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing facility, located in Baton Rouge, LA, is a 70-station, fully equipped call center. CATI produces data more quickly and efficiently than other methods of surveying. We usually provide data within 5 to 7 working days from questionnaire finalization (quicker service is available for a reasonable fee). Cross-tabs and analysis follow soon after.

Our staff consists of interview professionals who undergo a rigorous training to eliminate bias, in addition to specific project-centered training. Each interview is monitored for quality assurance. Additionally, our software assures proper randomization and dialing execution, which increases the reliability of your data and virtually removes any possible human error.

The information is stored as it is collected in our secure on-site databases and is available on an on-going basis. Thorough reports, cross-tabulations and presentations will illuminate the results of the research.

Please click on the image below to explore our 70-station CATI call center.

Call Center

Inbound Toll-Free Calling

Our inbound call center exists to listen to customers. Customers who call these toll-free numbers will reach a live interviewer who will deliver your survey.

SCI has many inbound (toll-free) telephone numbers available. After a project is completed, its toll-free number is retired for a year, ensuring the quality of your data.

This service can be designed for virtually any need, from a comment/complaint line to in-depth interviewing about specific issues.

For governmental, healthcare, and community service organizations, we offer our Information and Referral Service as a function of our inbound calling data collection. This industry-specific service offers the following benefits:

  • a team of specialists who answer calls from customers
  • monthly activity reports designed by you to address specific information needs
  • tracking of referrals to avoid duplication of services
  • call-back surveys to evaluate the services
  • the opportunity to increase service level, and at the same time reduce cost
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Web-based data collection

Our sophisticated web-based survey system can reach a virtually unlimited sample of people. Participants are sent an email with a link to a survey, or we can place a link on a website. Our web-based data collection has many outstanding and competitive features:

  • respondents can depart the survey at any time and return to exactly where they left off
  • respondents must answer every question on every page in order to proceed — this increases the accuracy of your data
  • rotated, multiple, and ranked responses
  • weighted responses automatically weighted to meet response input logic requirements

We can design any questionnaire, from the very simple to the most sophisticated and complex.

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Targeted direct-mail interviewing

As advanced as our data collection technology is, SCI Research does not leave behind more traditional methods of surveying. We can easily conduct a conventional mail survey using mailing lists or panels drawn from target populations.

Conventional mail surveys are convenient and inexpensive. We will perform them methodologically, passionately, and responsibly. This mode of surveying requires more time for completion, but be assured your data will be clean and actionable.

Qualitative Methods

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Focus Groups

Reveal issues before they become problems.

From the discreetly installed microphone to the strategically placed video camera, our focus group facility is the largest and most technologically advanced in Louisiana.

We assure the comfort of clients, moderator and participants. The facility's environment is conducive to in-depth questioning.

Our job doesn't end when the focus group wraps up. The information gathered is used to produce an actionable analytical report, targeted to fulfill your objectives.

SCI Research recognizes that Spanish-speakers are an emerging market along much of the Gulf Coast and can conduct focus groups in English or Spanish.

To explore our focus group facility, click the images below. To order food for your focus group(s), click here.

(Click on the images below to enlarge)

Observation Room

Alternate Discussion Room

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Face-to-Face Interviews

Intercept Interviews

The best time to gauge a customer's perception about goods or services is right after they have used them. Our trained interviewers will deliver questionnaires to customers as they leave your business or establishment. Our exit interviewing skills are comprehensive.

Let us help you discover what's really on customers' minds by gathering and examining the interview data. Our in-depth reports cover all aspects of the interview and project.

One-on-one in-depth interviewing

Versatility is our cornerstone.

SCI Research interviews individuals on the phone or in person. We can perform interviews at any location. One-on-one in-depth interviews really get to the heart of a research matter. The data collected at the interview and the analytical report which follows is probing and focused on perceptions.

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Litigation Consulting

Whether considering a settlement or just fine-tuning an opening argument, SCI Research can assist. We will cull a panel of your jury's demographic before which you can put on your entire case - and that of your opponent.

With SCI Research's litigation consulting, you can find out which points resonate with each juror and why, determine the degree of fault your jury might attribute to each party, and get an idea of an expected damage award.

Panels are conducted in our focus group facility, allowing your colleagues and clients to view them live or watch a recording later. At your option, they are guided by either your own moderator or our in-house moderator, a graduate of Louisiana State University's Paul M. Hebert Law School.

SCI offers jury groups of three different lengths: two hours, four hours, and eight hours. Two-hour groups are best utilized when you require information about a single issue, such as damage amounts. Four-hour groups provide the opportunity to delve deeper into witness testimony, exhibit effectiveness and case theories. Eight-hour groups offer the most flexibility, allowing for a complete mini-trial experience, during which all facets of your case may be tested.

We also offer two-stage jury focus groups, wherein a generalized litigation discussion is utilized in conjunction with a case-specific discussion. This involves a focus group during which broad areas of litigation are covered (such as a particular type of personal injury or product liability). With the information gathered during a general litigation focus group, you are armed with a better understanding of what issues must be addressed in your case-specific jury focus group. This allows SCI to provide a deeper level of analysis for your use.

The data gathered from SCI’s jury focus groups is useful for trial strategy, voir dire, damages assessment, associate training and more. Contact us today or click here for more information.

To order food for your jury group(s), click here.

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Secret Shopping

Our shoppers are your observers. SCI Research's secret shopping service can be utilized in any industry, from a department store to a medical office. The service offers the following advantages:

  • nationwide coverage
  • highly trained and demographically specific shoppers
  • initial reporting available within one hour of project completion
  • final shopper reports made available to you the next business day
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Interactive Tools

Restaurant Customer Value Calculator

Discover how customer retention impacts your profit margin. How many customers are you losing each day? What does that relate to in terms of lost profit and sales annually? Just click to learn what a 50%-75% increase in customer retention can save your company annually.

Click here to try it.

Food-Giveaway Cost Calculator

Do you implement food giveaways to induce customer feedback? The best feedback comes from those customers whose expectations were not met. Find out how much money you are spending on feedback from customers who are already satisfied versus those who are dissatisfied.

Click here to try it.

Customer Retention and Service Recovery

This special, three-part service is one of SCI Research's areas of expertise. The Customer Retention and Service Recovery (CRSR) system reduces the loss of any business's most important resource — its clients.

Using the three services below in conjunction allows businesses to increase customer satisfaction, thereby providing a higher level of customer retention.

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Comment and Complaint Line

Clients are the best judge of deficiencies in customer service. SCI has extensive experience in customer satisfaction data collection, research and analysis.

The comment and complaint line is a function of our inbound (toll-free) calling method. To improve the quality of customer service and thereby retain clients, businesses must know what they are doing wrong.

The comment and complaint line allows customers to reach a live and sympathetic interviewer. Our interviewer will ascertain the customer's grievance and provide useful feedback which can be used to prevent it in the future.

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Secret Shopper

The secret shopper function of the Customer Retention and Service Recovery system is unlike our basic secret shopper service. This function of the three-part system is used to ascertain the methods of competitors.

Use the secret shopper tool to investigate what service a more successful competitor might be employing to satisfy its clients.

The secret shopper program may also be used to determine deficiencies in customer service or other aspects of a business that may drive customers to a competitor.

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Competitive Analysis

Using competitive analysis, SCI will assess the market conditions for any specific industry to discover the true market position of direct competitors. Unlike syndicated and industry research reports, our investigation and identification of opportunities is not available to the public at large. It is only available to our clients.

competitive analysis provides the following:

  • Determination of product / promotional offerings
  • Evaluation of pricing strategy
  • Identification of direct competitor strengths and weaknesses
  • Testing of new products for market acceptance
  • Assessment of ideas, practices, and procedures of direct competitors
  • Comparison of direct competitor promotional items and specials

Used in combination, these three services provide the maximum improvement in customer retention and satisfaction.