Primus Sales Force Survey - Case Study Example

Primus Sales Force Survey CMN 6910 Testing Communication Quality DR. Carl Zangerl Northeastern (College of Professional Studies) and State: Date: Primus Sales Force Survey Quality of the Survey Questions a) Phrasing The use of surveys is one of the strategies employed in qualitative researches. Its advantage, according to Beck (2003), is that it collects very specific information segments that can later be generalized. If some quantification is added to a survey study then its analytical rigor is greatly enhanced while keeping the research fundamentally qualitative (Caulley, 2007). The most important stage in a survey study is determining what questions to ask in order to get the right answers that fulfill the objectives of the study. It is a preliminary stage but one that has a direct bearing on the success of the study. If the researcher gets the questions wrong, chances are that the respondents will get it wrong too and this means that the credibility of the findings will be compromised (Babbie, 2001). In order to eradicate this problem, it is imperative that the questions are asked with utmost clarity and efficiency. The following is an analysis of the quality of the survey questions administered to the sales representatives and managers of Primus Financial Company. It will analyze the issues that pertain to phrasing, the extent to which the questions measure the impact on the attitudes and behaviors and the extent to which they are actionable. Phrasing of the survey questions is as important as the content of the question. The phrasing should enhance the respondent’s understanding (Crossman, 2014). Therefore, the question should be phrased in the simplest and clearest way possible. To that end, these questions did not err a bit. The questions are very simple, clear and objective. For example, question number 2, which asks whether the intranet portal provides useful information in helping the employee do their job. It is simple and straightforward. All the seven questions that were employed asked for one piece of information, using simple wording and avoiding technical jargon. But despite being simple, these questions are vague. For example, question 1 and 2 which ask whether the monthly sales magazines and the intranet portal provide ‘useful’ information to the employees which aids in the performance of their jobs. The term ‘useful’ is vague. Coupled by the fact that the scale method is used to rate the answers, it becomes subjective as what level is useful to one employee may not be useful to another. Also, the amount the sales representative may find useful may not be the same for a sales manager. There is therefore an element of vagueness and ambiguity which if not addressed will compromise the validity and credibility of the study (Caulley, 2007). The adjectives used are at best not quantified. A good example is question 3 that asks ‘I receive the right amount of information.’ It is hard to quantify the terms ‘right’ or ‘useful’ used to qualify the extents in these survey questions. One of the best attributes about the phrasing of the questions used in this survey, and other good surveys, is that they are positively phrased, does not carry any implicit or explicit assumptions and do not seek to lead the respondent (Paine, 2011). In questions one through seven, there is no where a negative term, for example ‘not’, was used. It is essential that the survey question be as positive as possible so as not to negatively influence the respondent’s answers or show some element of biasness. Paine (2011) suggests the use of Grunig’s agree-or-disagree statements if there is a risk of leading the respondent. The downside of this positive phrasing however becomes apparent in the sense that these questions do not form complete sentences (Smith, 2013). For example, question 5, ‘importance of communication to sales success.’ The last issue with the phrasing of the questions is that they are not time specific. There is no single question that provides a timeframe for the considered answers. This is despite having previously conducted the same survey in the past. In light of the changes that were effected as a result of the past survey, the subsequent survey study should have asked questions that take into consideration the changes that have taken place since the last study in order to assess progress. b) Measure of impact This is a qualitative study and so the main aim is to measure the impact on attitudes and behaviors of individuals (Beck, 2003). Though the survey questions strive to bring out the employees attitude, they do not clearly do so. They only paint a vague picture, pointing the analysts in a particular direction but not disclosing how far they should go. The scale used, one to seven, is not the best that could have been used. Researchers have concluded that the less values to be used for ranging, the better. According to Smith (2013) the optimal scale is that of one to five that corresponds with strongly agree-agree-neutral-disagree-strongly disagree metrics. Babbie (2001) asserts that anything more than that confuses the respondents. Also, these questions did not effectively measure the attitudes and the behaviors since the system had some faults. Ordinarily, the most neutral answer should be at the centre, in this case the neutral terms were values 4 and 5, a very broad fence to sit on. Measuring attitudes and behaviors is hard as it is; making the parameters faulty hardly makes the measuring activity any easier or effective. Also, attitudes and behaviors vary to great extent and cannot be confined to a positive or negative scale, the questions should have provided the PNA ‘prefer not to answer’ option and the ‘others’ option so that the respondents can clearly express their attitudes and preferences (Smith, 2013). c) Actionable The questions employed in this survey are fairly actionable. This is because they are able to get the basic information on communication functions of the company. But as far as providing useful insight into the psyche of the sales representatives and the sales managers is concerned, the questions are not actionable as they fall short in many aspects. The extent to which the survey is actionable can be increased by defining the terms used so as to make them clearer (Crossman, 2014). Results Analysis In this data-driven world, the value of information and communication cannot be overstated. Efficient decision making is key to an organization’s success as it saves time and money (Paine, 2011). The results of the Primus Sales Force survey do provide useful insight into the communication function of Primus Financial Company. A close analysis establishes that managers generally appreciate the value of information more than the sales representatives. In all the areas assessed, for example the intranet portal, efficiency of the way information is provided, the satisfaction with the present communication and having a clear sense of company’s direction; the sales managers topped as illustrated in the following table. Sales Representatives (%) Managers (%) Deviation from last survey (%) SR Managers Monthly sales magazine 32 53 n/a n/a Intranet Portal 34 40 -15 -6 Right amount of communication 19 18 +4 -1 Right way of communication 10 14 -5 0 Importance of communication to sales 27 33 -3 +2 Satisfaction with the communication received 19 21 -5 -5 Clear sense of the company direction 10 15 n/a n/a From the above table displaying the positives from the sales representatives and the managers it is clear that apart from the right communication element where the sales representatives better appreciated the communication provided, the managers saw a better need for communication than their juniors. This is clearly visible in the following graph. This may be explained by the sophisticated decision making functions and responsibilities that come with climbing the career ladder. There is a correlation between the increase in importance of communication of sales from the last survey for the managers (+2), which has not been replicated by the sales representatives. Also, it is evident that despite the company’s efforts to provide the right amount of information, which resulted to a (+4%) increase for the sales representatives, generally the trend has been on the decline. The following table illustrates the trend with regards to the positives and negatives observed in comparison with the last survey’s results. Details Deviation from last survey’s results (%) Positives Negatives SR Managers SR Managers Intranet portal -15 -6 +13 +3 Right amount of information +4 -1 +4 0 Right way of communication -5 0 +7 +6 Importance of Communication in sales -3 +2 +5 -2 Satisfaction with communication -5 -5 +7 +10 From the table it is evident that there are more negative answers to the question asked this time than there was in the last survey because the negatives values have increased. This means that both the managers and the sales representatives feel that the organization is not providing sufficient information in the right way and do not feel that the communication provided is relevant as it does not affect sales. The confidence in the communication provided is fast waning as is evident in the negative deviations of the values that were previously positives. There is thus a huge problem that the management will have to address. The level of satisfaction of employees with the communication function of the company is also worrying. Either majority of them do not know the value of information or are fairly satisfied because the values of those who had a neutral answer on their satisfaction were significant. For example, 52% of the sales representatives and 49% of the managers stated that they were indifferent as far as their satisfaction with the communication function is concerned. This shows the prevailing attitude of not having an affinity to acquiring information. What is worrying about this behavior is that despite their huge indifference, any other change notable is the increase in dissatisfaction, 7% and 10% for sales representatives and managers respectively. The intranet is also the favored mode of communication. 84% of sales representatives and 90% of the managers aired positive or neutral sentiments with regards to the organization’s intranet. But despite this positive show, an incredible number of the employees can be said to be ignorant of the value of communication. Considering the indifferent answers in the question of whether they felt they received the right amount of information it can be deduced that most employees do not know how much ‘right’ is right. 68% of sales representatives and 73% for the managers expressed indifference. This is especially alarming for the managers who are supposed to know just what information is needed for the purpose of decision making. Further Exploration From the data collected, there are two issues that require further exploration; the right amount of communication and the mode of provision of this information. The analysis shows there is a direct correlation between the right amount of communication and the employees’ satisfaction with the communication. Employees can only be satisfied with the communication once they perceive that they are getting the right amount of information; anything less than that does not count. The value of information for decision making should be the tool used to determine just how much right amount is right. The way of provision of the information is also important. In this case it was very poor with only 10% and 14% of sales representatives and managers appreciating it. The company should explore the other ways of communicating apart from the intranet which has shown some popular trends. The frequency of meetings, departmental briefings, memos, internet and social media and other tools of communication will be the tools used to ascertain the extent to which the company utilizes the various communication tools to pass information to its employees. The access to these communication tools would be vital in further assessing the effectiveness of the ways used to disseminate information. References Babbie, E. (2001). The practice of Social Research: 9th Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Beck. C. (2003). Initiation into Qualitative Data analysis. Journal of Education, 42(3), 231. Caulley, D. (2007). Review of Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Qualitative Research Journal, 6(2), 227. Crossman, A. (2014). Constructing a questionnaire. Retrieved Paine, K. (2011). Measure what matters: Online tools for understanding customers, social media, engagement and key relationships. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Smith, S. (2013). Survey questions 101: Do you make any of these 7 question writing mistakes. Retrieved from Read More