Background & Uses for Intercept Interviews

Over the years, so-called “Mall Intercepts” have been characterized as “clipboard-yielding predators” roaming suburban malls. However, today’s Intercept or Exit Interviewing is highly targeted to capture the “shopping experience while it is fresh in the mind of the customer” and consumers are more willing to participate in a survey that allows them to provide immediate feedback. Some examples— 

§         Intercept interviewers were placed just outside several locations of a major retail chain. Customers were approached and offered a $5 gift certificate for their participation in a short customer satisfaction survey. The client gained tremendous insight into service, selection, in-stock position, signage, lighting, and other key retail metrics. Most importantly, they identified the reasons customers walked out empty-handed, resulting in improvements that have led to increased customer conversion. 

§         Another hardware store chain used intercepts in-store, with interviewers approaching paint shoppers. Again, they were offered a gift certificate for answering very specific questions regarding paint selection, brand preferences, color matching, and the like. 

§         A municipally-run event center wanted to gain feedback from attendees of certain events (rodeos, car racing, auto shows) regarding the food service and suggestions for food items not being offered currently. This led to the hiring of a new food vendor that could fulfill customer expectations. 

§         A pizza restaurant used an intercept interviewer as a part of a “push pin” analysis to determine just where their customers were coming from geographically. 

§         A convention and visitors bureau was able to utilize intercept interviewers by having them dispatched to various venues to interview out-of-town visitors, a task that would have been impractical via any other method.

 The Intercept or Exit Interview is ideal for a wide range of enterprises, including— 

§         Individual retailers, shopping centers, outlet malls 

§         Fast food and family restaurants, food courts 

§         Events such as concerts, theaters, sporting events, exhibits, museums, and more

The CRI Intercept+ Program

The CRI Intercept+ Program is a turnkey intercept solution—from the development of the intercept questionnaire, interviewing, analysis, to reporting. Incentives can include gift certificates, percentage-off coupons, or drawings for valuable prizes. As a plus, an online “wave off” survey is provided for those not willing to participate at the time.

Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio Intercepts

CRI has made a tremendous investment in the training of its telephone interviewers and in the process, has identified an elite group of interviewers and trained them further in the techniques of professional intercept interviewing. They are required to meet strict standards of personal appearance, engaging interpersonal style, accurate response recording, and the ability to carefully probe open-ended questions that provide a rich context for analysis. Many are bilingual.

Nationwide Intercepts

CRI is part of a nationwide network of professional interviewing firms, allowing us to put your study in markets other than Texas and in multiple markets at one time. These firms follow our guidelines carefully and their interviewers are fully briefed by CRI researchers.

Intercept and Online Questionnaires

Intercept questionnaires are quite different from telephone questionnaires and self-administered feedback cards. We work with clients to develop an instrument that will answer their research questions while efficiently serving the one-on-one interviewing process. Since there will always be some “wave-offs”, an online survey invitation card can quickly be handed to those too busy or not interested at the moment. Both types of respondents are eligible for the incentive. We program and host the online survey as part of our program.

Analysis & Report

We recognize that clients want quick turnaround and data that is easily consumable and actionable. While CRI analysts are trained in sophisticated statistical analysis, they also know how to report the data in a way that has real-world application.