By coincidence, I read two articles this past week on the theme of, “less is more.” These articles were not specific to market research, yet they do apply.

Less is More, for Market Research Credibility

In the February 2012 issue of Inc. Magazine, Twitter and Blogger co-founder Evan Williams promotes the idea of doing less. That is,  “If you have too many things to think about, you’ll get to the superficial solution—not the brilliant one.”  For we researchers, this is a hard balance. On one hand, we know that the value of analysis seldom comes from focusing on one or two data points—it comes from identifying recurring themes and patterns. Indeed, we often talk about “weaving” together a story from multiple data points.  But we also know that at the other extreme, dumping too much data in a client’s lap, leads to disaster: they turn off, stop listening, and even judge us as unable to prioritize or synthesize, thus hurting our profession’s credibility.  Allowing people to focus more on fewer items, does enhance how market research is perceived.

Less is More, for Richer Market Research Analysis

In the Sunday New York Times (January 20^th, 2013 edition), Matthew E. May wrote about, “The Art of Adding Through Taking Away.”  The article points to the strength of this wisdom through ancient proverb and more recently by quoting Jim Collins, who apparently observed that, “A great piece of art is composed not just of what is in the final piece, but equally important, what is not. It is the discipline to discard what does not fit — to cut out what might have already cost days or even years of effort …and marks the ideal piece of work, be it a symphony, a novel, a painting…”

This is so true for those of us who write market research reports. It is always a challenge to hold back—we find so many interesting and tempting data points in a single study. Yet we know that the discipline to reduce our work to its core essence is essential, and will even help us to create more meaningful analyses. A good market researcher will find many interesting things to report; a great one will focus on fewer items but bridge the gap to actionable insights.  The restraint is not easy, but is always rewarded.

[Report writing strategies are covered in Research Rockstar’s Project Management class. Next session starts February 28^th and meets once a week for 4 weeks.]

If you’ve ever seen the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, then you are familiar with the line, “do less.”  Chuck (Paul Rudd) uses this line over and over when teaching Peter (Jason Segal) to surf. Chuck goes a little far and Peter ends up boogie boarding, but his point is well taken. Doing too much will result in failure, but doing too little will leave you boogie boarding. When designing a market research survey, it is important to capture a lot of useful information, but how much questioning will be too much for the participants to take? Our mantra is, as Chuck advises, to do less.

Doing Less Will Minimize Your Survey Drop Out Rate

In any market research survey, some participants will drop out, which is just the nature of the beast. The goal is to minimize this drop out rate so that we can meet our overall sample size goals, completely. A well-written questionnaire can limit this drop out rate to lower than 3%, the target number for most market research surveys.  People will be more likely to complete your survey if it is simple; and that means asking clear questions, offering realistic answer options, and using easy scales.

So how simple does it need to be? How do we balance that desire to achieve optimization through simplicity, while meeting the project’s needs for data collection?  While there are many possible factors, here is an often overlooked critical one:

Know how much effort you can ask from this particular group, and design accordingly. In the case of a non-blind survey, the first step is simple; understand the target audience for your survey. Are they loyal customers or a random sampling of consumers?  Loyal customers will be far more willing to take time on the survey and answer more personal questions than random people. However, even loyal customers can be easily scared off by complex surveys.

When crafting your survey, you will surely go through a few iterations. So while revising, be sure to consider the content from a participant’s point of view.  If you were taking this survey, would you feel it was asking for too much information or too much effort? Guiding questions to help you gain a participant’s perspective can be found in Research Rockstar’s class titled “Ask It Right.”  And until then, you can always take a lesson from our surfer friend Chuck, and err on the side of doing less.

[Want to learn more about asking the right questions, using the proper scales, and making things easy for participants?  Visit Research Rockstar and take the “Ask It Right” class online in an instructor-led class or at your own pace.]

It may not be an age-old debate, but it’s one I’ve been hearing a lot lately. In market research, customer interviews (or in-depth interviews, or IDIs) are often a key part of a broader research study. If you’ve been planning a research project involving IDIs, you’ve probably asked yourself whether or not you should hire an outside market research supplier, or use in-house colleagues to conduct the interviews.

Though the obvious reason for choosing the in-house option may be financial, there are additional reasons for going with this path that are just as pertinent. Specifically, the desire to create more hands-on involvement for team members (allowing them to have direct learning experiences), as well as rapid feedback, make in-house research enticing.

When handling customer interviews in-house, you gain the benefit of fast feedback. You can easily receive updates from colleagues making the calls down the hall. Should any roadblocks arise, you and the interviewers can quickly review the screening criteria, modify the interview guide, or escalate findings.

We also see enhanced learning (more “aha!” moments) when team members are personally involved. This fact holds true regardless if it’s executives, middle managers, or other staff conducting the customer interviews. There is nothing like talking to 10, or even just five, customers one-on-one to create deep, lasting insight.

Risks of In-house In-depth Interviews

So what are the risks of doing IDIs in-house?

The ultimate risk: alienating clients. Colleagues who have not been trained to do customer interviews may have trouble asking questions and listening to responses in a purely objective way. Clients may get irritated if they feel manipulated or misunderstood by a company representative.

Another big risk: underestimating the amount of project management work involved. If you have never conducted in-house interviews before, you may not realize how much time it takes. Your tasks may include:

• Writing a screener
• Crafting the interview guide
• Recruiting and scheduling the interviews
• Coaching interviewers
• Arranging for and then reading transcripts

Perhaps most importantly, keep in mind that you’ll need to read and synthesize the results in a way that can be shared.

In-house IDIs take significant time—for you as the market research project manager and for the colleagues doing the actual interviews. I have seen clients embark on these projects, confident that they can do them, only to have the project turn into a never-ending-nightmare. The involved staff simply could not take enough time away from their core job tasks to get things done in a time-efficient manner.

How To Conduct Customer Interviews: The Final Decision

Keep in mind the following as you make your decision about in-house versus outside-agency market research:

• Time: Do you have it? What about those conducting customer interviews and potentially transcribing them? Remember that customer interviews would likely be a task added onto an employee’s preexisting assignments.
• Learning potential: Would you and your colleagues learn more by conducting research in-house than by using an outside agency? Do these benefits outweigh the time and energy commitment required by in-house research?
• Risks: Do you have the right people for the job? Interviews are not the time to alienate your customer base. If the experience goes badly for customers, the money you saved doing research in-house may be lost in a future sales.

Only you know if the in-house approach is the right one for your company, but these tips can help guide you in the right direction. Remember to be reasonable about your expectations and realistically estimate the time and skill necessary for conducting in-house research.

[Interested in learning more tips to manage in-house interviewers? Interested in training non-researchers conduct research interviews? Check out Research Rockstar's class: Research Interviews 101.]

[Are you leaning toward the in-house option? Even so, remember that market research policies still apply to you! Check out Research Rockstar’s helpful guide on policies.]

This November 7^th to 9^th, many lucky professionals will be gathered in Orlando, Florida learning and networking at one of the industry’s premiere conferences: The Market Research Event (hosted by the Institute for International Research).

But since not everyone has room in their calendar, or budget, for conferences, Research Rockstar is offering an alternative—a way to get market research learning the week of TMRE, but in the convenience of your own workspace, and without spending thousands of dollars.

The other market research event, Market Research University Week, will take place during the same week as TMRE. Students will get a bundle of four great classes and an hour of one-on-one time with instructor Kathryn Korostoff for $579.  And with Research Rockstar’s on-demand scheduling, you can choose exactly when to take each class, any time between November 7th and 10th.

At Research Rockstar’s Market Research University Week, students will gain fresh, practical market research knowledge from the comfort of their home or office. Students can pick four classes from the following set of options:

• Ask It Right: All About Scales and Answer Options for Questionnaire Design
• How to Hire a Market Research Agency: Practical steps for a Successful Process
• Learning from History: Using Win/Loss Research to Improve Sales Success
• Market Segmentation: Practical Steps to Research Success
• Product Concept Testing: Practical Steps to Research Success
• Reorganizing the Market Research Function
• Social Media Meets Market Research: Social Media and Social Networking as Market Research Resources

Each class is 40-80 minutes long. After registration, students will be sent an email link that will allow them to specify their four selections and  choose the time slots that will best suit their needs.  All four classes can be taken in one day, or spread out over four days. For more information on Market Research University Week, please click here.

Are you tired of people being cynical about market research? Tired of explaining to people that market research is, in fact, much more than surveys and focus groups?

Me too.

Announcing, “Think Outside The Survey”, a new eBook from Research Rockstar. Members can access it on the Members’ pages. All others, please click here.

Today, some business professionals dismiss market research. Thanks, in part, to popular books like Predictably Irrational, they have learned that self-reported behaviors and attitudes can be unreliable.  But the problem isn’t that all market research methods deal with these realities poorly—the problem is that many people assume market researchers rely exclusively on surveys and focus groups. And while these are great methodologies useful in many situations, they are among the most susceptible to the deficiencies of self-reported behaviors and attitudes.

Our goal, as market researchers, is simple: we don’t want business professionals to dismiss “market research” because they equate it with surveys and focus groups.  Our goal is to get them to understand that market research is more, much more.

That’s why this new eBook presents fourteen market research methods that aren’t surveys nor focus groups. These are the methods we need to raise awareness of, so that people, won’t dismiss market research—even if they are dismissing surveys.

Please share this eBook with your friends and colleagues. Let’s spread the word that it is time to think outside the survey.