MRFGR finds and screens people to take part in your market research. We can create or check screening questions, recruit against agreed criteria and manage participant communication and attendance arrangements. The work is planned around your audience, research method and fieldwork dates.
There are so many respondents out there. We'll find the right people for your market research project.
Your market research data is only as good as the respondents you're speaking to. We recruit highly engaged people for research who are both genuine and deliver quality insight.
We specialise in every element of the respondent recruitment process; respondent identification and planning, screener checking or creation, recruitment and management, and back checking.
Planning respondent recruitment
Define eligibility, exclusions and any quotas so screening reflects the people your research needs.
Specify the method, location or online format, session length and fieldwork dates.
Agree screener creation or checking, recruitment updates, participant communication and attendance arrangements.
Share your audience criteria and timetable so feasibility can be checked before recruitment begins.
We can recruit for:
Respondent quality assurance
All of our respondent recruitment is done entirely in-house, so you can rest assured that each participant has been checked and verified by our own team, and none of the work has been passed on to a third party, allowing us to deliver a cost-effective and simplified service. As part of our recruitment package, you will receive regular updates - mostly between every 1-2 days - which will detail the participants recruited thus far, their full screening criteria and demographic info and steps that the MRFGR team have taken since the last update.
Our internal recruitment procedures are the most rigorous within the whole of the market research industry, which is why we are able to personally guarantee that you'll only ever get respondents from us who are:
The team are trained to pay special, close attention to so-called 'professional respondents' who behave deceptively on market research screeners in order to be selected for a project. We utilise a multiple screening approach (more on that later) and an effective respondent management tool so that only true participants end up taking part in your research. To put it bluntly, when a respondent fits certain recruitment criteria, we don't just take their word for it - we check, verify and validate every single person before booking them in for research. Some recruitment agencies may find this to be an unnecessary step, but at MRFGR, we're committed to the authenticity needed to ensure your findings are as valid and useful as they possibly can be.
Our team will personally speak to all of the respondents before they are booked in for your market research session. During this chat, a number of things are assessed - including engagement, interest, conversational etiquette, comprehension, along with speaking and listening skills. The ping-pong ball of insightful conversation has never been more important than it is in market research, which is why we won't recruit respondents who 'just' answer your question, but ones that will engage with what you're asking and discuss where necessary.
To ensure maximum transparency between participants and our clients, we operate on a three-stage screening process:
There could be nothing worse than hiring a venue, planning a market research discussion, having the moderator prepared, only to find that a number of respondents don't show up. Over the years, MRFGR have maintained a high turnout rate of 95%+ and developed a reliable method of making sure everyone attends.
We always operate on the belief that we’re only as good as our last job so you can believe that you’re going to get the best service possible (please feel free to read through our most recent client testimonials on the homepage of our website).
It's also worth noting that we are fully GDPR compliant and will take care of all appropriate measures when it comes to transferring contact details, personal data, and screening info to any of our clients. We have a responsibility of transparency and security towards all of our respondents and all of the necessary consent and documentation on our side of the process will be handled by MRFGR staff. For instances where the client acts as data controller (e.g. focus group recordings), MRFGR can help with the creation of GDPR-approved consent forms and also gather the relevant signatures. In addition, if you have any GDPR concerns or questions throughout the project, our data protection officer will be on hand to assist you.
If you would like to know more information about how we can help you find people for your research projects please click here and you will be diverted to the specialist ‘question and answer’ section pertaining to market research respondent recruitment.
Project examples
A UK fitted furniture brand wanted to improve the buying journey without losing the personal service customers valued. MRFGR recruited current and abandoned customers for three moderated focus groups and delivered an executive report with session recordings.
Read case study
A consultancy needed carefully screened participants for a global streaming platform’s eye-tracking research. MRFGR handled recruitment, appointments, participant communication and incentives across ten fieldwork days.
Read case study
A brewery wanted to compare a new low-alcohol beer with competing products before launch. MRFGR completed 54 blind taste tests, exploring sensory reactions alongside expected pricing and likely drinking occasions.
Read case studyMRFGR clients
These organisations and the feedback below relate to MRFGR projects across our services.
Client feedback
Feedback from other MRFGR projects.
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Over the past year, we have had the pleasure of working with MRFGR on multiple projects, and we cannot recommend them highly enough.
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Their communication throughout our engagements has been excellent, always prompt and clear, which has greatly facilitated our processes.
The team at MRFGR, although small, is exceptionally knowledgeable and dedicated. Their expertise is evident in their ability to obtain high sample sizes and deliver well-published results. What sets them apart is how easily their findings are translated into actionable insights, ensuring that we can swiftly and effectively utilise the data.
Their speed of delivery is truly impressive. We consistently receive results in good time, which is crucial for our fast-paced operations. MRFGR has proven to be an invaluable partner, and their service has consistently exceeded our expectations.
For anyone in need of reliable, efficient, and insightful research services, MRFGR comes highly recommended.
MRFGR have been absolutely brilliant! The videos we have received from their respondents have been perfect - they clearly brief their people really well and you can tell from the content we receive. They give clear communication & are on hand to help at all times. We give them some crazy tight timelines and they turn things around for us so quickly and without stress - even when the respondents are coming from multiple countries.
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I highly recommend Matthew & Paul - they're fab!
When I phoned Matthew at MRFGR I was in a bit of a pickle. I needed to recruit 25 consultant paediatricians for telephone interviews (with minimal incentive) across 8 countries, two of which were non-English speaking. Oh, and I needed to have recruited and completed the interviews in 12 working days. Surprisingly, Matthew wasn't taken aback by this and set about the task with enthusiasm. Even against these challenging timescales, Matthew was able to deliver all 25 consultants - a phenomenal effort.
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I was extremely happy. And, more importantly, so was my client.
MRFGR were not the cheapest firm who pitched for our work, but I am happy that I decided to go with them. I feel that their database is extensive and this combined with their excellent client service means that they offer a higher degree of reassurance and peace of mind than other recruitment agencies we have worked with in the past. When we had a problem to resolve at short notice they did this very quickly. I would happily work with them again.
Hi Stephen Both groups went very well - a key client attended the first and was very pleased. Very articulate groups, really impressed especially considering it was such a difficult recruit (recruiting Somalis). The hotel was great too, incidentally, a nice place to do groups. Many thanks for your hard work on this - hope you feel it was worthwhile!
MRFGR recruited four focus groups for our research across a variety of settings, including socio- economically deprived urban communities and very small rural communities. Despite the significant challenges these settings posed MRFGR ensured that all our focus groups were fully attended, and with a minimum of fuss. I would have no hesitation in recommending them for recruitment work.
It's always a pleasure to work with MRFGR. They are a great partner who consistently recruit high calibre respondents to take part in our research projects and workshops. Always professional and very reliable.
Our organisation, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, has used MRFGR to support our recruitment requirements for focus groups and public events and we have always found their service and achievements to be excellent. They have demonstrated a commitment to meet last-minute requirements in a calm and professional manner and we would not hesitate to recommend them.
I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the work that you recently carried out for us. Stephen Essex and MRFGR were recommended to me by a colleague. It was important for us to find a company who could understand and deliver our brief on a very tight schedule. Stephen demonstrated a level of knowledge and professionalism that gave us the assurance that this would be achieved.
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The result was a report that clearly met the objectives of our brief, was presented in a professional manner, which then enabled us to present the findings to our customer with confidence. We would not hesitate to recommend or use Stephen again.
The groups in Chipping Norton went really well thank you. We had a full turn out to both of them. I would just like to say that we have been very impressed with the number of participants you have managed to recruit to these groups, your regular updates on the recruitment progress, and your follow up contact. We have also had very positive feedback from the participants about their contact with you. We will definitely consider MRFGR in future when wishing to recruit participants to similar groups.
We have used MRFGR to recruit participants for multiple research projects with varied samples sizes and sometimes challenging recruitment criteria. They have a calm and professional manner, providing us with regular updates in the lead up to and on the day of research projects. Multiple touch points with participants approaching the study date ensures drop-out rates are extremely low with replacements usually being found very quickly if necessary. I look forward to working with MRFGR in the future.
MRFGR is the first external company we have used for sourcing focus group attendees. Although we have organised many groups previously I would definitely use MRFGR again. The costs were reasonable and the attendees we have received have been exactly the right target groups. The level of communication has been satisfactory too with regular updates leading up to each focus group. Matthew has managed all of the groups we have requested and there has been no issues. I would recommend trying MRFGR.
Common questions
Selected answers for planning this kind of research. Browse the complete knowledge centre for related methods, audiences and delivery questions.
The recruitment cost of a respondent type is generally dependent on three variables, (1) the time frame to recruit, (2) the level of difficulty in terms of the screening requirement/respondent type required, and (3) the number of respondents required (large scale respondent recruits can qualify for discounts depending on certain factors).
For a quick no obligation respondent recruitment quote (we can usually turnaround a quote within minutes of the request) please call or email the office.
Open FAQThis is a very important question. If the incentive’s too low you’ll have an issue not only in raising respondent interest to the market research project but also ensuring a good respondent turnout/participation. On the other hand if you pay too much you’ll be unnecessarily eating into your project budget.
The best way to determine the correct incentive is to put yourself in the shoes of the respondent. What would it take for you to attend a focus group or to take part in an online survey? Particularly in respect of focus groups, consider what incentive would ensure your attendance. Would you still attend if a better opportunity presented itself - perhaps your friends have asked you out for drink? What if it was raining and you were coming by bus or train? There are many obstacles that can prevent a respondent’s attendance, but if the incentive’s good enough this should be enough to overcome them (in addition to the effective management of the recruitment process by the highly specialised MRFGR respondent recruitment team).
Open FAQIt involves sourcing and screening participants who fit the study criteria.
Open FAQTimelines vary by criteria but we provide rapid recruitment solutions.
Open FAQAs discussed above, respondent incentives are a key element of ensuring good respondent attendance. However, even with the best incentives out there, without an effective respondent recruitment team there’s little chance of a good turnout. MRFGR are the best in the industry in ensuring respondent attendance and in 95% of projects are proud to boast 100% attendance - and still a record 90% attendance in those small 5% of cases.
We go to great lengths to ensure not only quality screened respondents but respondents that turn-up to your research and in a timely manner (respondents are always asked to arrive 15 minutes before the actual focus group commences). Unlike our competitors we ensure that we call the respondent on at least three occasions leading up to the group to ensure their continued interest and to assess their reliability. This includes a telephone discussion on final screening selection, a call a few days before the group and a call on the morning of the group. Additionally, as a further insurance measure we also ensure - at no extra charge - that we have quality, screened reserve respondents in the unlikely instance that someone should cancel. These reserve respondents are also asked their location in respect of the group, the time it would take for them to travel to the venue in addition to being asked what would be the latest time they could be contacted to ensure their attendance in the event of someone cancelling. No one else in the industry provides this level of service to ensure full respondent turnouts.
Open FAQThe method of respondent recruitment is very much dependent on the project at hand. Generally, we utilise several respondent recruitment methods, including in order of importance:
(1) Ongoing advertising of the MRFGR website (directing potential participants to the market research registration page) and it's various project requirements for certain types of people to participate in focus groups, depth interviews, co-creation workshops, product testing, audience participation, mystery shopping, etc.
(2) Specialist 'cold-start' research in respect of difficult briefs/hard-to-find people, where the team closely consider the project and plan a specialist recruitment strategy, and actively recruit those individuals through their work places, social media, colleagues/friends, etc.
(3) Specialist recruiters who have been trained in the 'MRFGR recruitment way' and who are closely monitored and recruits stringently checked (all respondents are called and re-screened).
Open FAQConsider your market research project carefully and determine what you want to achieve from the research. Generally, your ideal respondent type will be someone that is either a current customer/user of your product/service or someone that you want to be a customer or user. Once you have identified the respondent type/s it’s highly probable that you’ll then want to break these down further into other identifiable areas. Such areas of consideration may include:
respondent age;
respondent gender;
respondent race;
respondent income;
respondent education;
respondent working status;
respondent location;
respondent usage/purchase frequency of the product or service;
the respondents use of competitor products or services;
Screening potential market research respondents for focus groups, depth interviews, online surveys, etc is a critical part of the market research process. MRFGR can use client screeners or create screeners on the client’s behalf at no additional charge. Unlike our competitors MRFGR provides at least one - sometimes two - ‘additional’ layer/s of screening. Any respondents joining our panel/database are asked a series of screening questions including many general questions in regard to them personally, their lifestyle, their work, their health and their interests including any specialist areas of interest. Additionally, for every new project, respondents are then re-screened using the agreed screener via an online survey/screener and then as a further measure any potential applicants are then called and once again screened on the telephone ensuring the best screening process out there.
In addition to this stringent market research screening process applicants are also monitored to ensure that they haven’t completed too many research projects and are what we’d class as a ‘professional market research respondents’. Generally - unless the clients requests otherwise - respondents are not included in a research project if they've completed a similar project in the last 6 months.
Open FAQRelated services
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Share the audience, method, sample size, timings, incentive expectations and any screener or discussion guide you already have.