ARDEM Crafts a Timely, Responsive Solution for Market Research

A Marketing Research Firm With Thousands of Handwritten Surveys

In 2013, after winning a coveted contract with a major public transportation company, a prominent consulting marketing research firm was in need of a data-processing and data entry partner. The firm was tasked with administering thousands of hard-copy surveys to train and ferry riders, ensuring the transportation company was compliant with federal regulation, as well as conducting research into rider sentiment.

The challenge of processing all the data contained in the surveys was twofold: First, each survey was handwritten and administered in multiple languages – typically English and Spanish. This made parsing the data a particularly involved and time-consuming process.

Second, each individual transit line or mode averaged about 10,000 surveys. The sheer volume of surveys in need of processing, combined with the complexity of the survey, made it beyond in-house data processing capabilities.

ARDEM Provides a Timely, Responsive Solution

The firm contracted ARDEM to help process the surveys. With ARDEM’s industry-leading customer service, combined with innovative quality assurance measures, the data from each survey is quickly and uniformly entered into a flat file and delivered back to the firm. Each flat data file is accompanied by an image file of the survey, giving the client the means to measure the accuracy of the data.

“ARDEM recognized the importance of data accuracy,” a company representative said.

The client also made note of how responsive ARDEM could be to the high volumes of processing required, often with only a few
weeks turnaround time allocated.

“We often begin a project by asking, ‘How quickly can ARDEM get this back to me?’” the representative added. “This is crucial for us to set our client’s expectations. ARDEM is always quick and responsive. I can just pick up the phone and call them.”

Unparalleled Quality Assurance and Security

Since starting work with ARDEM, the firm has come to appreciate how the high level of quality assurance measures makes it possible to complete several critical survey projects quickly and easily. The last few years have seen the successful completion of many similar projects, each delivered on time and with the highest level of data accuracy. The firm also commented on how ARDEM’s advanced security protocols – including on-site servers – assuaged any fears about the security of proprietary data and helped the firm win choice government contracts.

“We’ve built a good relationship with ARDEM,” the representative said. “There’s always open lines of communication, both before and during the process. ARDEM has made my life easier by prioritizing our project objectives and always being responsive to our timeline.”