Three best practices for saving time, money and headaches in your survey reporting

Many experts are predicting—once again—that the turning point has come for the market research space. In short, we must keep up with demands for speed and cost-savings without sacrificing quality. One of the only ways to do this is by implementing new technology that helps us do our jobs better. This can be a little bit daunting, as new solutions can disrupt current processes and workflows. Here are some of the best practices we’ve identified to help you to get from raw data to survey reporting with relative ease:

Let the machine integrate your data: With data coming in at record speed from multiple sources, you need a way to bring it all together for the most complete insights. Data integration is vital for today’s market researcher, and there are many solutions available to help combine information from multiple sources. This is a step in the process where technology can do most of the heavy lifting. For example, with OfficeReports, you can import data from nearly all major data collection platforms, such as Survey Monkey, Qualtrics and Confirmit, as well as datasets in SPSS, Excel and CSV formats. There’s no longer a need to painstakingly pull all this information together manually, instead you can integrate data right inside one of the programs you use the most, Microsoft Excel.

Automate your reporting processes: Automation is really the foundation of a good market research practice - and it goes far beyond the data integration step. According to the latest GRIT report from Greenbook, storytelling and data visualization is still a top-rated need for market researchers—coming in second place only behind data analytics. Producing visual reports using a program that is easily digestible by all stakeholders—PowerPoint—is easy with OfficeReports new “Report Builder.” This functionality can be used both for ad-hoc survey report generation and for creating automated report templates for tracking surveys, reducing the time to create reports by up to 90 percent. The ‘Report Builder’ works by specifying which variables should be used in tables and charts on your slides. From this simple input, OfficeReports will automatically generate the needed tables and populate the tables and charts in PowerPoint using the results. When your data or filters change, all tables, charts, images and texts are updated automatically, so you can always share the latest, most accurate results. The result is a finished report, which can be generated with new data quickly and easily.

Get the support you need: Perhaps there is no bigger barrier to technology adoption than feeling adrift, using a program that is confusing and disruptive with no support. It’s important to choose a technology that was built with market research specifically in mind, rather than trying to adapt a solution from outside the industry to your unique needs. In addition, having a support and consulting team that can walk you through the technology is vital. Make sure that your provider has a large array of options for education and service that work for you—whether it be workshops for your whole team, one-on-one consulting or even the ability to step in and provide on-the-ground help to complete a project. The right support can streamline your processes and minimize risk.
At OfficeReports, we understand the unique challenges that market researchers face on a daily basis. That’s why we’ve created a solution that is fully integrated with the programs you and your team already use most: Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. Saving time, money and headaches is part of the promise we offer to our clients, with our unique approach to creating efficiencies and removing unnecessary steps when producing your reports. Our automated solution streamlines your entire workflow, reduces potential errors and improves quality exponentially.