Q&A with a Field Agent

When I worked in retail, we were advised by management that our store would receive secret shoppers. These shoppers would grade us on certain aspects of customer service. The grades would be forwarded to our store for improvement and feedback.

This kind of feedback is invaluable to stores who emphasize customer service. Admittedly, the reports would be a week or two later.

Fast forward to today.

With all of the technology we have at our disposal, there is a way to receive this kind of feedback, this kind of data, at a much quicker pace.

Field Agent is an Arkansas company that helps businesses accomplish these tasks while deploying agents who care about improving service using their smart phones.

I met Field Agent Chief Operating Officer Marc Yount at a reception for the Arkansas Fellowship last August. Field Agent participates in the program that hires the best candidates who have recently graduated from an Arkansas college or university.

Yount’s team recently answered some questions for us at Talk Business & Politics giving us more insight about the Fayetteville-based tech company.

TB&P: What problem(s) are you solving at Field Agent?

Field Agent: Field Agent is changing the way business information and consumer insights are collected. Using our network of 625,000 agents nationwide (mobile app users), we quickly and affordably collect data that can be monitored in real time by our clients. Although we specialize in CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) and retail data, our platform can be used to answer a wide range of business questions. Companies often look to us to be their “eyes and ears” in places where they cannot be physically present, whether that’s in stores with their products or in homes with their customers. We go on-location to acquire information where it’s most needed.

What sets us apart is, we’re first and foremost a business solutions firm. We’re not primarily an “app” or even a tech company. The Field Agent team consists of seasoned veterans in the CPG and wider retail industry. Yet another distinctive trait: we use a series of quality control procedures to ensure our clients receive accurate, dependable information and insights from us. Our golden rule is “use technology to enable good research, not to replace it.”

TB&P: What story led to the formation of Field Agent?

Field Agent: Field Agent was conceived in 2009 by a team of researchers seeking to solve a common problem among our clients: real-time access to in-store information and consumer insights.

We took traditional approaches to gathering information and insights, and transformed them. Field Agent did by combining the efficiencies of crowdsourcing with the robust capabilities of mobile technology. By solving the problem of obtaining real-time access to information and insights, our clients enjoy a direct, 24/7 line to shoppers and store shelves virtually anywhere in the country.

Knowing our clients and their agencies need more than just data, we developed a quality control process to ensure we furnish clients with only the most accurate, reliable information and solutions.

Our team at Field Agent is built on the premise of “solutions first” and “technology second.” We are in the business of coming alongside our clients and their agencies to deliver the right methodology to solve their business problems. We have proven that mobile methodologies can do this more quickly, widely, and affordably than conventional research and auditing methods.

TB&P: What platforms are you using? Web? mobile? other technologies?

Field Agent: We are strictly a mobile audit and research company. This allows us to fully harness our “crowd” of 625,000 agents wherever they are, while also ensuring they are in the correct location and providing the right information. Our app is offered in the iTunes app store as well as Google Play.

TB&P: What are your future goals? Field Agent will be successful if _____?

Field Agent: Field Agent will be successful if we continue to grow as a collector of reliable business information. Problems and opportunities will continue to emerge in the future and the Field Agent solution will be ready and waiting. The key will be adapting our current products to future needs. We’re very excited for what’s to come!