Market Research Services for Financial Institutions

Providing Unique Point-Of-Sale Research for the Financial Services Industry since 1993

Sales Quality Research Group, Inc., is one of America's leading providers of market research services for financial institutions. Our company has assisted its clients in conducting well over 250,000 in-person and telephone mystery shops of retail bank employees, investment professionals, and insurance sales personnel for all types of financial institutions.

Sales Quality Research Group offers a variety of research services including Mystery Shopping Studies, Sales Referral Studies, Customer Satisfaction Studies, Executive Interviews and Focus Groups for retail banks, credit unions and insurance and brokerage firms throughout the United States.

What We Do

Retail Bank & Credit Union Research

Our retail bank point-of-sale studies and customer satisfaction studies have expanded significantly over the past decade and today represents over one-half our annual business. We have conducted well over 200,000 retail banking shops and surveys and maintain an extensive normative database for the most common sales and service quality evaluation criteria.

Investment Sales Program Research

Our investment program research and mystery shopping studies are designed to address all relevant industry guidelines and regulations regarding sales presentations made in a bank setting. Sales and service quality issues that are measured include a combination of relating, discovering and advocating skills typically used in consultative sales.

Research Services

Exceptional services for financial institutions.

Mystery Shopping Studies

Retail Bank and Investment Program Mystery Shopping Studies are widely used by the financial services industry to evaluate the sales, service and compliance quality skills of an organization's retail sales force. The data collected in such studies helps the organization to identify and diagnose individual and systemic training needs. Some organizations even incorporate mystery shop results into their incentive and compensation plans.

Customer Satisfaction Studies

Satisfied customers are loyal customers. They return and buy more, they tell other people about their favorable experiences, and are willing to pay a premium for the privilege of doing business with a bank they trust. In addition to providing quantitative satisfaction data, Sales Quality Group’s interviewers are asked to drill down on customer responses to clarify exactly why a customer/member feels the way they do.

Investment Program Callback Studies

One of our more popular studies is designed specifically for the bank's investment and insurance sales program. Sales Quality Group’s Post-Sale Customer Call-Back Studies addresses regulatory concerns and, at the same time, generates valuable customer attitude and opinion data on the performance of the investment sales representative and program.

Branch & Call Center Referral Studies

While bank investment sales programs can receive leads from many sources, branch and call center referrals remain the single most important source of referrals for most programs. Sales Quality Group has developed an extremely cost-effective way to measure bank and credit union branch employees’ service quality skills, propensity to refer and compliance with referral “do’s and don’ts”.

Focus Groups & Executive Interviews

Focus Groups and Executive Interviews can provide critical qualitative data on an array of financial products or services. Participants talk about their attitudes, opinions and impressions of the information, products or services presented for their review. Our team has conducted focus groups for retail banks, credit unions, insurance companies and brokerage firms regarding their investment sales programs.

Our Company

Sales Quality Research Group's research services are tailored to meet the needs of our clients.

Sales Quality Research Group, Inc. is a Tempe, Arizona-based research firm founded in 1993 and incorporated in 1997 by Jim Rensel and Dr. Kenneth Kehrer. Sales Quality Group is one of the nation's leading providers of research services for banks, thrifts and credit unions, as well as their brokerage firm and insurance company partners. Since 1993, Sales Quality Group has conducted well over 250,000 in-person and telephone shops and surveys of retail bank employees, bank investment and insurance sales personnel (both brokers and licensed branch employees), as well as all types of bank and investment program customers.

The firm has conducted point-of-sale research for over 100 banks, credit unions and insurance companies throughout the United States. Current and recent clients include Arvest Bank, Banc of California, Bank of the West, Citizens Bank, Evansville Teachers Credit Union, First Hawaiian Bank, Hancock Bank, Horace Mann Investors, LOGIX Federal Credit Union, Partners Federal Credit Union (Disney), Union Bank of California, and WFG (Aegon/Transamerica), as well as two-dozen clients of PSCU, the nation's leading Credit Union Service Organization.

Meet The Team

Jim Rensel | President & Co-founder

Jim has over 25 years' experience in banking and investment/insurance product sales. He has helped to establish, manage and support investment and insurance product sales programs for banks including Bank of America, Chase Manhattan Bank and Washington Mutual Savings Bank. Jim is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and has authored or co-authored articles on investment product sales and compliance practices. He holds a degree in Mathematics, has held a variety of insurance and securities licenses (including a General Securities Principal’s license - Series 24), and is an honor graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School.

Dr. Kenneth Kehrer | Co-founder

Dr. Kehrer is the nation’s leading consultant for bank investment and insurance product sales programs. His studies on sales penetration, profitability, productivity and compensation have helped many banks benchmark their program’s performance and better understand the key drivers of success. Dr. Kehrer has also served as an expert witness in some of the most important litigation involving bank broker dealers. He is co-publisher of the highly regarded Kehrer-Bielan Report, as well as case studies and regulatory analyses of the retail financial services industry. Dr. Kehrer holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University.

Bill Gutkowski | Director of Operations

Bill has extensive experience in all aspects of project administration, including project design, quality control, analysis, and reporting in a wide variety of industries, including automotive, banking, packaged goods, fast food, and health care. He served as the Director of Operations for Insights & Solutions, Inc. prior to joining Sales Quality Group. Bill was also an analyst for the National Research Group and a Senior Account Executive for Walker Research. Bill has a degree in Education from Fitchburg State College.

Suzette Drake | Field Research Director

Suzette is a veteran of the market research industry and has first-hand experience as a mystery shopper, trainer, scheduler and editor. She has conducted mystery shopping studies for a number of full-service research firms and businesses from across the country. Suzette studied Journalism at Riverside City College in Southern California and honed her writing skills as the Lead Editorial Writer for TV Guide Magazine.

Chip Morgan | Senior Project Manager

Chip is a veteran of the Information Technology industry who has provided expertise in technology research, complex data analysis, business intelligence, and consultative project management for innovative technology start-ups and large enterprises. Chip holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Communication from Arizona State University and is working toward a PhD in Economics at Arizona State University.