Corporate researchers and market research agencies are increasingly exploring automation tools and AI to aid in the research process. These tools can be extremely helpful, especially in qualitative platforms that enable a single researcher to do more in less time than ever before. New AI-enhanced DIY survey platforms are coming to market each day with a similar promise of allowing researchers to do more with less.

While these new tools and platforms can lead to efficiencies, they often sacrifice the diligence, nuance and flexibility that true customer care requires. Clients deserve more than the “seems reasonable” results that AI can offer; they benefit most from expert guidance and partnership that provides them full confidence in their data and data-driven recommendations.

We believe that researcher-led insights stand apart from solely AI-driven insights by virtue of their personalized service. Here is how we think it is done best:

1. Dedicated Account Managers – Each client is paired with a dedicated account manager who understands their unique needs and their overall business, ensuring seamless communication and exceptional service. I’ve personally been working with multiple clients for over a decade. Even as individual researchers or marketers move on to other opportunities, PROOF Insights acts as a steady hand for our clients to rely on.

2. Unparalleled, Customized Expertise – Over the last 35+ years our agency has delivered thousands of different research projects. We tailor that experience across a wide variety of industries to your unique needs. Every research project is customized to meet your specific business goals and challenges. We listen, learn and then craft the exact study you need.

3. Data Quality You Can Trust – Finding quality respondents is essential, and at PROOF we do that by partnering with the most trusted sample providers who incentivize panelists appropriately and by applying meticulous data quality checks for every study. Current AI-driven DIY platforms are often plagued by fraudulent respondents from sample aggregators who offer the lowest possible incentives and improperly vet their panels. We are able to identify suspicious respondents while they are actively in a survey and exclude them before they ever make it to our client’s final data.

In addition to using AI tools to monitor data, we still review all open-ended responses to each question we ask to ensure respondent quality. The importance of the human touch in data quality cannot be overstated.

4. Real-Time Support – Our research teams are based across the US and we pride ourselves on being available to our clients whenever they need us. Our support doesn’t end after report deliverables are sent; when it comes to our research results, we want to become an extension of your team. That means when you have any research question, we want to know about it and see how we’re able to help, regardless of whether it’s related to a project we’re working on or not.

5. Human Insight, Not Just Data – AI can be helpful in taking basic data and translating it into charts and graphs to produce simplistic results, but these aren’t true insights. It takes human expertise to properly interpret findings, identify meaningful trends, and provide actionable recommendations, especially when comparing data across multiple groups of respondents or time frames. We build on the history of research conducted together and uncover the story in your data to communicate what actually matters.

Researchers at PROOF are just like you; hardworking, dedicated, and caring. We’re deeply invested in the success of our clients. We’ve been able to do this for as long as we have because of that unwavering focus on improving our client’s experience.