Tldr; obsess over details, pay well, and use the right tools.
1️⃣ Not just any calendar invites will do
You already know that sending detailed calendar invites is almost the most important step to reducing no-shows for B2B participants in UX Research (after the whole money question up next in #2 below).
BUT, do your calendar invites includes all the important study details, especially the incentive? Do they play nice with every flavor of Gcal, Outlook, and iCal? Do they trigger email invites for each calendar platform from the calendar invite? Not all calendar invites are equal, and you want to make sure your B2B participants who likely live and breathe by their calendars get all the right details.
It’s also the best place to cover prep items, important notes about the session, or even links. Remember, calendar events can’t contain formatting reliably, so emojis are a creative way to clean them up and make them more readable for participants. Removing any rich formatting will also increase compatibility with assistive devices and accessibility guidelines as well, which is more inclusive and reduces no-shows.
2️⃣ Pay the absolute maximum incentive you can get approved
Paying the highest incentive your organization can approve is the most powerful way to encourage participants to attend the research session.
While not every study and org can pay incentives, if you can, use the free Ethnio incentive calculator to determine the right amount. Offering a high incentive shows participants that you value their time and insights and will absolutely increase their willingness to actually attend and provide valuable feedback.
3️⃣ Redundant Communication
Most of us can’t send a WUPHF to participants, so making sure you have at least 2-3 forms of redundant confirmations and reminders is critical to make sure participants show up. There can be a very understandable hesitation to over communicate with B2B folks, in order to be respectful, which we totally get. The main thing to do is make sure all forms of communication are spread out. So the calendar invite goes first, email reminder goes out 1 day prior to interview, and the SMS goes out 1-2hrs prior to session. We support automating Emails, Calendar Invites, and SMS in Ethnio so you can easily sync content and study details across all those channels, but of course you can use all those channels with participants manually.
Additionally, always provide instructions for any tools, software, or technology required to participate in the session over and over again. Providing clear instructions makes everyone more likely to be on the same page and reduces the likelihood of no-shows as well.