Tips to Avoid Paid Survey Disqualification

It can be a common occurrence with survey panels, you go to respond to a new survey invitation, only to find you do not qualify, sometimes you’re asked to complete a set of “pre-screening” questions.  The idea behind these is to determine your suitability for the survey.

Remember companies are paying big bucks for your opinions, and want to be sure you are the type of person they need.   For example if I’m a company selling car related products, and the people answering the survey don’t own a car, then I am getting completely irrelevant results.

The most frustrating part of survey disqualification is that for the large majority of survey panels, new survey opportunities don’t always come thick and fast.

Some give out a few new surveys per month, others perhaps one or more a week.  To find you did not qualify for a survey can mean you miss out on any earnings for some time..

With that said, here are 5 easy tips to avoiding paid survey disqualification:

1. Get in early to avoid disappointment! – One of the most common reasons people are disqualified or “screened out” of new surveys is because they were too late in applying.  Of course a marketing company’s budget is not infinite, so they can only afford to pay for so many responses.  Most, if not all surveys will have a cutoff point as to how many respondents they can accept.  To combat this, it’s really a case of checking your emails, or your account regularly, if you’re finding the emails are simply getting lost in your inbox, consider creating a separate email address just for your paid surveys.
2. Seek shorter surveys – One of the easiest ways of avoiding disappointment, (and your time wasted), is by only pursuing the shorter surveys, i.e. 10-15 minutes, instead of 20-30.  It’s a simple idea, but if you want to avoid wasting too much of your time, it’s a good way of building up your survey profile early on.
3. Always be honest – Survey sites have long memories, after all it is in their best interest to get the best responses, from the right people.  Don’t try to answer what you think they want to hear, as in the long-run you may find yourself disqualified from the website, and even lose your earnings.
4. Take your time – Many survey panels reward their best panelists through more regular, and higher paying surveys.  For example IPSOS I-SAY offers a loyalty scheme where users earn more for each survey based on how many they complete.  The more the survey panel knows about you, the more surveys they will know they can offer you. .
5. When to “stretch” the truth.While the best advice is to always be upfront and honest when completing paid surveys, there are occasions when you may need to “stretch the truth”.  The majority of survey websites tend to prefer responses from ordinary folk, as opposed to “regular survey takers”.  The reason or this is that professional survey takers who are used to taking surveys and may be more likely to provide “biased”, unoriginal answers.  On the flip side, you can’t really earn huge amounts without registering to more than one survey website.   The typesof questions you can expect to receive are: Have you completed any surveys recently? And “do you belong to any market research companies”.  You may also be asked whether you work within specific industries, which would also pose you as a “professional”, who may have biased opinions, to avoid disappointment you should “stretch the truth” here.

Survey disqualification can be frustrating and can feel like a huge setback, but there are things you can do to improve your chances and help to avoid disqualification.  With these tips you should have some advantage over the rest!

What do you do to avoid survey disqualification?   Do you have any other suggestions? Leave your response in the comments below.