I recently polled some proprietary, competitiveness, business-sensitive information from some of the largest investment banking and asset management firms in the US.  The finance/ financial services industry is one of the most conservative and gatekeepered business cultures to begin with, and collecting strategic and sensitive marketing information from senior executives promised to exceptionally difficult - especially because each of the interviews was going to be have to be made from what was essentially a “cold call”.

Here’s the research plan that worked for me:

1. Who: Build a contact list of executives responsible for the topic of the discussion (marketing, recruitment, technology, whatever). Have the interviews conducted by a senior research partner or peer - such as an experienced or retired executive from the industry in question. If you have time, you might consider subcontracting your research through a public research organization like a university research institute; they generally are perceived as being objective and trustworthy recipients of confidential information.
2. What: Structure interviews by phone; written correspondence is easy to ignore, is unlikely to make the respondent comfortable enough to share sensitive information, and is easy to get lost in the mounds of correspondence (email, fax, mail) that executives already receive. Keep the introduction and tone friendly, relaxed, and conducted as “two equals”. Develop an interview guide /outline / agenda to structure the conversations, but let it flex according to how the conversation flows (we used to refer to this as a “semistructured interview” in Anthropology). Do not emphasize the sensitive nature of the questions, but do focus on what is “in it for them” early in the call.
3. When: If your contact information is a direct line, try not to leave a voicemail on the first call or two; it’s easier to not reply than to refuse to answer a few questions to a live voice. If you do leave a voicemail, let them know you will be contacting them again if you don’t hear from them, and wait two days before calling back. If you must leave another voicemail, let them know you will be sending a fax or email of the types of questions you will be asking and how they can benefit. When scheduling calls, be sensitive to industry events, time zones and travel.
4. Incentivize: Try to offer disclosure up front. Don’t be dishonest or misleading about your objectives; if you have a “gut feeling” that the respondents will be unwilling to participate because the risks outweigh the potential benefits, then you need to restructure the research effort. Let the respondent know that what they share will be anonymized, and offer an incentive equivalent to what they are risking. One good strategy is to offer to share the anonymized findings (which they should interpret as strategic insight on their competitors) back to them when the research is completed, and ask them what types of questions they would also like answered while the research is ongoing. Give them a chance to “pick your brain” during the interview - it will also give you some insight on what are the important things to focus on.
5. Gatekeepers. Call from an office line. If you reach an office assistant (gatekeeper), ask for their name and if you can fax a list of the types of information you are discussing, and how the recipient will benefit (keep the fax brief!) Don’t be afraid to be human and friendly with the assistant; they will be more likely to help you if they feel comfortable with you. Call the assistant back and make sure the fax went through, and if they will be sure to “put it on the recipient’s desk”. Call back in a day or so to check the response. Even better, if you can get a referral to the target respondent, even if you were referred from elsewhere in the company, your request is more likely to get through. However, if you can’t get a direct line or voicemail, it will be tough to get through the gatekeeper no matter what.
6. Patience. Regardless of your research methodology and individual skill, you won’t reach anything nearing 100% response rates, and probably far less depending on the culture and availability of the target respondents and the nature of your interviews.

Traditionally, survey research is rather directional - the participant provides most all the key information. However, for senior executives and for sensitive information, it is important to establish trust and mitigate the risk with some form of exchange. Research at this level has to address these barriers or else the researcher will encounter nothing but closed doors and stalwart gatekeepers.

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