Market Research Training from Research Rockstar

What better way to prepare for 2012 success than to plan for some training?

Research Rockstar’s training options have been expanded, and now include 4 options:

• Online Training: Self-paced, Flash-based classes. These fully narrated classes are super convenient—learn the topics you want, from wherever you want, whenever you want. These classes are $129 each, and include 30 minutes of instructor access.
• On-site Training: Have a group that needs training? Want to train them all at once? On-site sessions range from 3 hours to 12 hours, and are available on many topics including Market Research Basics, Questionnaire Design, Market Segmentation, and more.
• Real-time Single Classes: Taught in our virtual classroom, these classes combine the convenience of online training with the power of real-time instructor access. At $245 per class, this is best for students who desire interactivity.  Click here for the current schedule.
• Four-week Power Programs: Also taught in our virtual classroom, these 4-week programs offer a deeper dive into market research topics, and include interactive exercises that boost retention. Oh, and they are also fun. Our January 2012 offerings are Market Research Project Management (starts January 10^th) and Online Research Methods for 2012 (starts January 19^th).  All classes start at 1:00 p.m. EST. Psssst…if you miss a class, they are all available for replay.

What is a virtual classroom? Students see slides, hear the instructor, view a white board, and can ask questions. Plus the whole class is recorded and is available for replay for 30 days.

By taking classes virtually, students avoid the cost and aggravation of travel, while still enjoying instructor access. The classes are each designed to be very real-world; the 90 minute sessions are fast-paced and focus on practical information.  After completing a class and a brief assessment quiz, students receive a certification of completion.

Any questions? Please contact Cathy Leonard 508.691.6004 ext 701 or CLeonard@ResearchRockstar.com.

December can be a nice, calm month for market researchers. Typically a month with little data collection, few presentations and no travel, it’s an ideal time to do a little 2012 planning. Here are three tips to keep in mind:

 
• Get customer feedback on 2011 projects. If you haven’t done it yet, it’s time to practice what we preach. Ask for some honest feedback on recent research. What worked. What might want to be repeated in 2012. What requires further investigation.
  
• Get aligned with 2012 corporate initiatives. Organization planning major international expansion in 2012? Planning to deploy green practices? Reducing time to market for new products? Whatever it is, now is the time to plan proactively for how market research can support key organizational efforts.
• Get sample sources updated. Whether you rely primarily on an in-house market research online community (MROC) or panel, have a regular sample provider or some combination, now’s the time to plan ahead for 2012 sample needs. Does your panel need refreshing? Does your MROC need expansion to cover new market segments? Have you had sample quality concerns in 2011 that need to be addressed before 2012 projects start? It’s a common source of market research headaches, but better to plan ahead.

Kathryn Korostoff will be presenting a one-hour webinar on Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 12:00 pm (CST). This webinar is ideal for anyone interested in learning emerging market research techniques.

Think Outside the Survey: 14 methods to change how your colleagues and clients perceive market research

Based on the new eBook, “Think Outside The Survey”, Kathryn Korostoff will discuss 14 specific methods that will change how you and your colleagues and clients think about market research. Too many people 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. Korostoff will present 14 market research methods that aren’t surveys or 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.

Some of the methodologies discussed include:

• Biometrics
• Crowdsourcing
• Mobile Research
• Neuromarketing
• Video Research
• + 9 more methodologies

There will be a Q&A session at the end.

Let’s spread the word that it is time to think outside the survey. Let’s start by educating ourselves about the new methodologies. Click here to register.

This webinar will be hosted by Quirk’s editor Joe Rydholm and is sponsored by Zoomerang.

Have you ever suspected that you, or your colleagues, over-rely on the ubiquitous 5‑point scales when designing questionnaires?

There are a lot of cases where what you are trying to capture, whether it is customer attitudes or behaviors, would be best served using a different type of scale or answer option.  For anyone who designs online surveys and is interested in making sure that they are collecting data that is both objective and complete, a good hard look at how you choose your answer options and scales is critical.

In our new class, “Ask It Right: Choosing Answer Types & Scales”, Research Rockstar covers Likert Scales, Semantic Differential Scales, Constant Sum, Ranking Questions, Rating Questions and more.  We specifically highlight examples of how to structure answer options for common research market needs, including customer satisfaction, product concept testing and more.

The class also includes several examples of “bad” questions, and how they can be rewritten to be better.

In market research, we all know we need to make sure that we are collecting data that is going to give us a complete, objective view of a target population’s, attitudes and behaviors. As important as it is to word the questions carefully, it’s equally important to make sure answer options are going to make sense.

Research Rockstar VIP, Backstage and Tour Bus members all have access to the class now; please just visit your member’s pages. Not currently a VIP, Backstage Pass or Tour Bus member?  The class is available for individual purchase here.

We particularly recommend this class to anybody who has colleagues who are new to questionnaire design. This is a very practical class that will help them avoid the common mistakes made by novice market researchers.

Join your Research Rockstar friends for an exciting day of free market research training at MRXU, the free market research Twitterversity on July 28, 2011 (7am-3pm EST).

This is a Twitter-only event where mini-lessons are released with the hashtag #MRXU. It’s a great way to capture market research facts, definitions, and best practices. This day’s topic will be, “Principles of Market Research Project Management” and will cover practical how-tos (and how-NOT-to’s) for anyone managing a market research process. There will also be a Q&A session at the end of the event.

Come one, come all. You don’t want to miss this free market research learning event!

This next MRXU will be particularly useful for newer researchers, so please do share this info with anyone who could benefit from market research training.

Agenda Details:

Class: Principles of Market Research Project Management
When: July 28, 7 am to 3 pm EST.
All times below are EST.

7 AM: Professor Kathryn Korostoff opens the event with, “A Question of Time: Setting Realistic Time Expectations with partners, colleagues and clients.” How long do different aspects of the research process really take?

8 AM: Professor Diane Hagglund will focus on, “Special Considerations for B2B Projects”, and will be available for Q&A via #MRXU

10 AM: Ten Project Management Tools.

11 AM: Professor Greg Timpany on, “Project Management 101: Tips for Beginners”, and will be available for Q&A via #MRXU

12 PM: Professor Michaela Mora on, “A Step by Step Guide to the Market Research Process”, and will be available for Q&A via #MRXU

2 PM: Hot Topics & Final Q&A. The Twitterversity will close with any follow-up on hot topics from the day. All POVs welcome!

More details coming soon!

If you are not already on the MRXU mailing list, sign up here for updates and post-event summary access. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you ever watched a really good juggler practice? When everything is going right, it’s a joy to watch, but once in a while, they get just a little behind, things start to get wild, and there’s that moment just before the balls hit the floor that you’d swear it’s the balls juggling the juggler, not the other way around. I bet a lot of market research managers can relate.

Recently I’ve had the experience of working with several clients who are in the not-uncommon position of being a one-person market research department. And across all of them, I have noticed a recurring challenge: they get stuck in reaction mode, not unlike our friend the juggler. Let’s look at this challenge and some tactics to address it.

THE CHALLENGE: Reaction mode

In reaction mode, the research manager doesn’t have enough time, budget, or even authority (in some cases) to plan strategically. Some of these professionals don’t have annual research plans or budgets. They often have too few resources for too many demands. Not only is it personally frustrating to be constantly distracted by delegated tasks on short or no notice, it’s also horribly inefficient. The market research manager becomes an order-taker, when he or she would best thrive and contribute in an active, creative mode. Call that job satisfaction? I don’t think so.

THE SOLUTIONS: Give Management a Nudge

• Make a plan. One client worked up a brief, 12-month market research plan. That sounds pretty tame, but his particular company had never had one before. The MR Manager identified and recommended some very basic things (like measuring brand awareness and initiating a transaction-triggered feedback program) that the company had never done. It’s too soon to predict the results, but the plan was well received by management, and it started a discussion. With luck, an annual research plan and a decent budget will be forthcoming, but even if not, at least management is starting to become a bit more educated about research’s potential.

• Invest in training. With the disclosure that Research Rockstar is a market research training company (so this may be self-serving), providing some training for the non-research side of the company can pay big dividends. Why not present a “Basics of Market Research for Customer Insight” class, where core concepts are defined and the benefits of good MR are presented? Show your colleagues and managers what other companies do with market research, how they apply it, and how much it actually costs. I did a class like this recently at a client site, and the audience had a few very interesting reactions:
  • They were surprised at how many non-survey methodologies there are.
  • They immediately embraced the idea of MROCs (market research online communities).
  • They heard me describe a type of project that happened to resonate very deeply with them (it related to a specific marketing challenge they are struggling with).
  • They were shocked at some of the cost ranges I gave them (what to expect to pay for different types of projects)—and it was a good shocked.

CONCLUSIONS:

When management doesn’t understand market research’s true potential, they tend to tag the market research manager for one-off projects and urgent needs. The one-man market research department will be picking up the balls that other jugglers have dropped, instead of keeping his own in the air. Stepping forward to say “Look what I can do for you” and providing some exposure to the possibilities can be very effective ways to rise above reaction mode. Being a one-man juggling act is challenging, no doubt about it—but it can be a joy when all those balls are hovering in the air over your head.

Check out Research Rockstar’s Market Research Training Services: We can train your whole team or you can purchase individual classes.

Is your organization doing more market research?  Are people outside of the market research department becoming increasingly involved in research, either as “do it yourself” researchers or as members of cross-functional project teams?  Imagine a baseball team made up of three professional ball players and six middle-aged guys from the local coffee shop. Wouldn’t those well-intentioned coffee drinkers need some practice before that first game? Well if you want your whole research team to play at their best, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Selecting Market Research Training Topics

When selecting topics for a MR training program, there are three key questions to consider about your audience.

• Do they need to know how to be informed market research clients? Market research clients can contribute more meaningfully to the process and will have more realistic expectations about their role if they’ve received some basic training. If you have cross-functional teams contributing to research projects, this becomes even more important as individuals from marketing, manufacturing, product development, and sales will have different market research knowledge and expectations.

• Do they need to know the basics of how to run small projects start to finish? If people outside the market research department are doing online surveys, Facebook polls, or other small scale research projects from start to finish, it’s useful to have them trained on questionnaire design, project management, basic data analysis, and data reporting.

• Do they need an understanding of specific market research topics? There are a lot of technical terms and best practices in market research, and educating people upfront pays dividends later. You’ll spend less time correcting bad assumptions and you’ll minimize dead weight. Suppose you’ve got some significant research coming up, say a market segmentation study or a new customer loyalty tracker.  This would be a great time to do some training on those topics.  There’s a lot of good information that can be covered in a class on specific market research project types that would bring everyone up to a basic level of understanding before you launch that big new project.

Let’s Play Ball!

By providing some basic training in market research, you’ll not only reduce the overall risk and improve the success of market research projects, but you’ll also encourage valuable contributions from non‑researchers. Instead of yelling at the ref from the sidelines, they’ll be in the game — and that’s what makes for a good season!

For information on specific Research Rockstar classes click here. To learn more about Research Rockstar’s onsite training click here.

Imagine a six year old who truly believes Santa grants all wishes. Even though he lives in a sixth-floor Chicago walkup, this child firmly believes Santa will come down the (nonexistent) chimney and leave a pony under the Christmas tree. Imagine the tears on Christmas morning when there’s no pony.

Most of us have experienced the feeling of being oversold, whether in business or in our personal lives. It’s painful. And it’s the last thing you want your internal colleagues, team members, or other associates to feel at the end of a market research project. Unfortunately, it happens. Maybe the results were unexpected, maybe the scope or methodology ended up being somewhat different than what they’d pictured. For whatever reason, the people who should have joyfully embraced your research results are unhappy. And after you’ve invested weeks or months of effort, time, and money, unhappy internal clients are the last thing you want.

How can we avoid this outcome? Be careful not to oversell market research. Those of us who do market research professionally tend to get enthusiastic. We are typically people who enjoy designing and implementing research methodologies, who like to dive into mounds of data and extract meaningful results. In our enthusiasm for research, we have to be careful not to over-promise. Realistic expectations are the key to satisfied clients, especially for riskier types of projects.

Product Concept Testing Example: What We Can and Cannot Promise

Product concept testing can be designed to help identify product ideas or feature combinations that have the highest potential share of the market. Key word: potential.

But there are challenges with product concept testing research. Sometimes people can’t respond to particular product concepts that are too new or innovative. They don’t have a frame of reference, so it is just too hypothetical. Henry Ford once said, “If I’d asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.”

Even in more mature categories, product concept testing research has limits. After all, a lot of research depends on asking people about their attitudes and behaviors, and even well-intentioned participants cannot report such information perfectly.

What can we promise about product concept testing that is realistic? We could design the project and promise we will:

• prioritize features
• prioritize among multiple new concepts
• identify likely tradeoffs between features and price
• estimate a demand elasticity curve
• weed out blatantly bad ideas
• identify potential demand deterrents or sales objections to a particular product concept

We also need to let colleagues know that there are many factors beyond our control. A major competitor may come out with a new product that influences purchase criteria. A new entrant may come out with a big splash and disrupt brand preferences. A shift in the economic environment could change price sensitivities.

Product concept testing research is still very worthwhile (and far better than not doing any at all), but it is an example of the type of project that has inherent limitations. It’s always better to do some research than none, but we don’t want to over-sell it.

Bottom line

If you’re doing market research on a project that is known to be risky in terms of how well it can predict actual customer attitudes and behaviors, you have two key steps to take:

1. Consider augmenting survey research with other methodologies.
   Social media monitoring? A prediction market? Ethnography? Rapid prototype testing?
2. Set realistic expectations. First, be certain that internal clients have realistic expectations about what they can and can’t expect. Let them know that inconclusive, contrary, or contradictory results can come up. If they do, it may require further research or the use of other methods—all of these things are part of the real world.

With realistic expectations, people will have the right mindset. We won’t have to worry about disappointing them in the end, and that saves everybody a lot of aggravation.

So don’t even try to be an all-powerful Santa. If that pony won’t be trotting out from under the tree, make it clear in advance. That city child would be happier with a shiny new bicycle anyway.

For more on Social Media Research, sign up for Research Rockstar’s White Paper on the subject.

Want access to more market research articles and training materials? Sign up for the Research Rockstar newsletter: SIGNUP

Even if a market research project produces a pile of perfect data, we still face the fundamental challenge of analysis — making sure that we’re analyzing the results comprehensively and objectively. In other words, without bias.

Let’s say you’ve done an online survey. You identified your objectives, thought carefully about sampling, and designed a great questionnaire. You monitored data collection and carefully cleaned your dataset. Even after all this painstaking work, risk still exists. You still have to analyze the data, and it’s here that unexpected errors often creep in.

WHAT WE SEE 

Human beings have a natural tendency to look for and see things that confirm our hypotheses, or that are consistent with our personal experiences. The result? It’s as though someone has applied a highlighter to the data so that the things we expect or believe jump out at us.

WHAT WE DON’T SEE 

We tend to overlook things we don’t expect or don’t believe in, and have an unconscious desire to ignore things that are inconsistent with our experience and expectations. Amid the flood of tables, charts and graphs produced by our survey, there may well be unexpected results that are more significant and useful than anything we anticipated, but because we’re not looking for them, there’s a good chance we won’t see them. If you’re a doubter, take a look at this video.

ATTRIBUTES OF A GREAT RESEARCHER

Some people are truly gifted at market research analysis. Some key signs?

• They’re able to challenge their own assumptions
• They’re willing to play devil’s advocate and challenge the way other people are looking at the data too.
• They recognize unexpected themes that sometimes appear in a data set.
• They resist the temptation to embrace the first story the data reveals; they’ll look for multiple stories so that they can determine which ones have truly compelling value.
• They can deliver bad news, such as “You know, your baby is ugly”; meaning that your favorite project, concept, or idea is getting negative results.

The ability to objectively and thoroughly look at data to see unexpected patterns is the key to being a great market research analyst. Even when a research project is perfectly designed and executed, there’s a real risk that it will fall apart at the analysis stage, wasting time, money and an opportunity to profit from hard work.

Market Research Bias Problems

In any analysis project, researchers need to sanity check for the following challenges:

1. Positive Bias: The unconscious tendency to see what we’re searching for or expecting to find.
2. Inattentional Blindness: An unconscious tendency to miss what we’re not looking for or don’t expect.
3. Happy News Bias: The inability to acknowledge that there is some “bad” news.

If these problems are at all evident, consider the following options:

1. Challenge Assumptions: If you see results that closely match your expectations or confirm what you already know a little too neatly, challenge yourself. Embrace the discipline of being objective, or hire people who can be.
2. Develop a checklist: Develop a personal checklist to help you maintain objectivity. With experience, you’ll discover where your own biases tend to surface. A checklist of those biases can help you avoid objectivity traps.
3. Hire those with the skills you lack: Someone on the analysis team has to be able to see what the others miss, and be willing to speak up about it. Hire people who see things differently, and create an environment where they are willing to be vocal about what they see.
4. Diversify Analysts: Different people have different biases and will have different interpretations of a data set. With a team, it’s possible that you’ll cancel out each others’ biases. We each have our weaknesses and blind spots, and a team approach will help to mitigate them.

Market Research Analysis: Did You Catch a Fish or a Boot?

Embarking on a marketing research project is a lot like fishing. You can pick the day, the time, the spot, the lure and the line, but you can’t control what you hook. Before you head back to the dock, take a good look in your hand and see if what you’re holding is a five-pound trout — or an old boot.

[Do you have staff that could use some market research training? Check out our online classes; most are under an hour, and all can be viewed conveniently from any web browser.]

Imagine it’s Friday evening. You’ve been scrambling all week, and you’ve decided to unwind with a nice dinner out. The fellow at the desk next to yours has been raving about this new bistro in town—the best steak, perfect wine, and dessert to die for. So you decide to treat yourself, and…

The hostess is rude, the salad limp, the wine warm and the steak unrecognizable. What are the chances you’ll be going back there again? How likely are you to take future restaurant tips from the guy who set you up? Might you even tell a few friends about your horrid experience?

Yes, this has something to do with market research. Or, to be precise, surveys. When bad surveys are circulated, the company that sent them out becomes less trusted. The “consumer” becomes an unhappy customer, and may even tell others about their bad experience—with surveys in general or with the specific company.

WRITING GREAT SURVEYS IS IMPORTANT TO EVERYONE

Anybody who’s had a bad survey experience is likely to have a tainted perception of the process, and that can come out in a number of ways:

1. Participation: They may be less likely to take surveys in the future.
2. Attitude: They might spread negative word of mouth about the company that sent the survey or about market research as a whole.
3. Skepticism: They may be skeptical the next time they see market research results.
4. Investment. If they are business professionals, they may be less supportive of their organization’s investments in market research because they just don’t trust the process.

BEING A GOOD CITIZEN

As good citizens of the market research community, we have an obligation to make sure the questionnaires our organizations are distributing are impeccable. Even those coming from the well-intentioned but usually untrained DIYers. The challenge for many managers is the huge number of colleagues now using low-cost tools for creating surveys. An opportunity, yes. But without proper training and oversight, the chance of creating a bad survey is greater than ever. Here are some low-cost options to help avoid that:

• Examples – Provide a template library of commonly used, approved questions. Demographic questions at minimum, so that your colleagues will be collecting consistent profiling information but avoiding questions that may be too intrusive, or too vague to be useful.
• References – There are some great books out there. The “Handbook of Marketing Scales” by Bearden, Netemeyer and Haws (Sage Publications, 2011) is one favorite. A little technical, but absolutely readable to anyone willing to make an effort.
• Quality Assurance – Appoint one or two people as the Survey Q&A Reviewers, and give them the responsibility (and authority) of sanity-checking any surveys before going live (especially those being sent to your valued customers). Make sure this role is publicized and endorsed by managers.
• Keep it simple – There are a lot of tools out there, and while it might seem counterintuitive, sometimes you’re better off limiting the choices. Instead of many different question types, limit it to a handful (say, multiple and single choice, and Likert scales) to keep the surveys manageable, and therefore less prone to design abuse.
• Training – Basic skills are important. Start with new employee orientation materials and train your workforce. I’m a little biased here since Research Rockstar is an online training company, but there are also others that offer seminars and webinars, including the MRA, Burke Institute and ESOMAR.

SURVEY QUALITY IS CRITICAL

Survey quality is important to those who create them, those who take them and those who depend on their results. It’s in everyone’s best interest to assure that what the public sees reflects the quality and professionalism of the market research industry. As I’ve mentioned in other blogs, having a few good policies is a great place to start. And it might just earn you a nice dinner out come Friday, too.

[Planning to write a questionnaire? Check out a preview of Research Rockstar's questionnaire design process class.]

You have built up your in-house market research resources. Maybe standardized on a new survey platform. Perhaps hired some more market research staff. That’s great. Now that you have those skills and tools in place, let’s look at a few applications you may not have considered that will hone your competitive edge.

SPARK EMPLOYEE PASSION

It’s hard to be passionate about your employer if you’re not sure that it’s actually doing anything meaningful for its customers. Insights into customers’ needs, attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions can fire up your employees to deliver great service. The more information employees have about customers, the more devoted they will be to meeting needs with excellence. Too often, customer survey results are only shared with the marketing team—but broader distribution of select results can be a powerful employee engagement strategy. [Read more on igniting employee passion by clicking here.]

HEAT UP YOUR SALES FORCE

Quotes from customers about what they like or dislike about your company or its competitors, or about their perceptions of sales processes or customer service, can be very powerful. (Don’t share any negative feedback about an individual in a public setting. Do share kudos.) Letting your salespeople hear new, even shocking things, will sensitize them to client needs. They’ll be less likely to be blinded by their own perceptual filters, more likely to hear the whole story and take action.

But don’t just tell your people what’s going on. Ask them, too.

BUILD THE BUY IN

Have you ever surveyed your employees to find out what companies they admire?  What CEOs they think exhibit the best leadership?  Which competitors they consider strongest or weakest?  How they think your company rates against the competition?  Give employees a chance to share their observation and opinions about the business; you’ll harvest great insights and engage them at the same time. Who, after all, knows your company better? They’ll appreciate the opportunity to share their opinions, especially if constructive action is taken in response.  But have a plan: if no results are shared and no action taken, employees will feel it was just an empty gesture.

ENGAGE SHAREHOLDERS AND ADVISORS

I’ll bet you can come up with ten questions to ask your shareholders, or your Board. What are their perceptions of your company?  How do they feel about the types and frequency of company updates?

This information doesn’t obligate you to act on their every whim. Knowing what they think may be half the battle.  If their perceptions are aligned with reality, great. If not, there may be opportunities to close those gaps.  Do they think the company is not socially responsible enough?  Maybe it is, and you just need to communicate all that you’re doing. Are they overly concerned with its short-term versus long-term prospects?  Maybe you need to do some more education about management’s strategic direction.

[Do you have staff that could use some market research training? Check out our online classes; most are under an hour, and all can be viewed conveniently from any web browser.]

Did you participate in the January 11, 2011 MRXU Twitterversity? Even if you missed it, the word cloud below may give you a sense of what took place. Also, you can still get the transcript and other Twitterversity news. Just sign up here:

What is the biggest problem facing market researchers today?

• Sample quality? Hmmm…. a huge problem, but no.
• Inappropriate use of methodologies? Always a challenge, but no.
• Poor survey design? Another good one, but I think it’s part of a bigger issue.
• Over-hyping of social media-based methods? A definite issue, but not the biggest.

The biggest problem we have is that too much research gets ignored. Too many studies lose momentum. Too many important findings get disregarded.  Even if end-clients sit politely in a final presentation, not enough of them use the research to make real decisions and take real actions.  And that’s a problem because it leads to negative perceptions of research itself.  Too many people perceive research as academic or theoretical; they don’t see it as something that truly can impact business success. Indeed, many non-researchers see market research as having a poor ROI.

If we want people to really use research, it needs to be more credible to them. And that means 3 things:

1. Let them see it, so they can believe it. When end clients are removed from the process, they are less likely to believe the findings. Especially any that contradict their personal opinions.  Jon Last, former MRA president and president of Sports and Leisure Research Group., talks about data proximity. He’s right. http://www.researchrockstar.com/why-internal-clients-ignore-market-research-results/
2. Let them have a say in it’s design and execution. Involve them in the process, start to finish. And I mean real involvement. Cross-functional teams sounds like a nice way of keeping people involved, and can work in some company cultures. But in reality? In most cases I have seen, the team members from outside the research function have neither real responsibility nor authority; they come to the meetings as clients or even just semi-interested observers. Research isn’t in their job description, its not what they get evaluated on, and they are easily intimidated by the “experts.”
3. Train them. Market research isn’t a secret society. A lot of the stuff we do is teachable. A little education will overcome many of the poor assumptions that lead to perceived credibility issues.

So here’s the point: to really address these three items, we need to re-think what market research functions should be centralized versus decentralized.

My proposal is that for many (not all) organizations, decentralizing market research can address these 3 items very well. Let different functional areas have their own mini-market research teams. Better still, have some  people in existing functional areas take on some market research responsibility for their groups; they will have a unique blend of expertise areas, which will help ensure actionability.

Objection: Research takes too much Skill, You can’t just Train People

My, what egos we researchers have! Do we really think that all market research projects are so hard, that other business professionals couldn’t possibly learn how to manage them?

In my 25 years’ of market research experience, I have seen that at least 70% of market research projects are pretty simple. They don’t require multivariate analysis. They don’t require lengthy questionnaires. They don’t require complex skipping or branching programming. Many don’t even require weighting.

Of course, 100% of research projects do require certain quality standards. Length. Objectivity. Scale choices. Knowledge of basic statistics.  All of which are teachable to any reasonably motivated professional.

One Vision For The Future of Market Research Departments

A centralized research function will remain an important resource, and support the decentralized teams.  In this scenario, the centralized research function of the future will focus on four functions:

1. Policy creation and enforcement. For example, how many times a year customers can be invited to research events, and what types of incentives are permissible. Heck, you can even have a policy that says, “Any questionnaires over 20 items long must be approved by (name of the organization’s market research director).” This is something, BTW, that many market research groups never have enough time to do!  If they can delegate some of the smaller projects, perhaps they will have more time for this type of important, strategic role.
2. Resources. Centralized access to research tools, secondary reports, in-house research results, standardized questionnaire templates, sample sources, in-house panels and communities.
3. Sophisticated studies and Trackers. Management of high-end, organization-wide studies (those requiring advanced analytics and longitudinal tracking)
4. Training. For example, either producing directly, or through partners, ongoing training, which will include “Market Research 101” as well as functional area specific content (such as “Product concept testing” for product development groups, and “Message testing” for marketing teams).

In this scenario, the decentralized functions will be specialists that serve the unique research needs of specific areas. They will have day-to-day relationships with the people who will be using the research. They will speak their language, and make research accessible and credible to them.  They will have the skills to do basic research, and have access to experts as needed.

Bottom Line: Improving Market Research ROI

A decentralization approach has the potential to boost research credibility AND also address the issue of rogue, unsanctioned, DIY research.  We all know there are plenty of bad questionnaires going out these days (though many come from “professionals,” too).  Clearly, more non-researchers WANT to do research. They want fresh insights. They want involvement in the process. So let them! With some intelligent policies, access to resources, and training, we can have the best of both worlds: quality research and greater research ROI.

Now what? I say: test it. Pick a functional area to test this with, preferably one where you know there is some rogue research going on anyway. You can take advantage of the existing interest to build a satellite research team.  Provide some training and policies, and give them some time. See how they do.  Do their projects go well? Do they have impact? Is the ROI good? Are the internal clients satisfied?  You just may be surprised.

As always, all comments welcome!

Note: This blog post was inspired by the Tweetoff held at the AMA’s virtual market research conference on June 24th. Thanks to @JHenning and @VirtualMR for a GREAT event! You guys are fun to debate with!

[Hey, did you miss my new white paper on online panels? Check it out here: GET WHITEPAPER]

Some of our online market research classes have been updated, and we need feedback!  We’ll be testing the content by offering in-person seminars in Massachusetts. So here’s the deal: attend a free market research seminar, and all we ask in return is that you provide feedback.

The following topics are being scheduled:

• Introduction to Market Research Project Types & Methods (2 hours)
• Introduction to Market Research Project Management (2 hours)
• Product Concept Testing (1.5 hours)
• Designing Online Questionnaires (2 hours)
• Divide & Conquer: Introduction to Market Segmentation (1.5 hours)
• Creating Your Market Research Strategic Plan (1.5 hours)

Interested? Fill out this short form and you’ll get date and location information:  Seminars.  As soon as details are confirmed, you’ll get an invitation.

Thanks!

Poor PowerPoint. It has many two-faced critics who on one hand use it to create market research deliverables but on the other deride it as an over-used crutch.

The debate tends to get framed in an over-simplified way as, “Should researchers use PowerPoint to deliver research results?”

This is over-simplified in 2 ways:

1. It assumes that a PowerPoint report is the only deliverable (which among good researchers, is rarely the case)
2. It assumes all PowerPoint reports are mammoth-sized piles of boring charts.

If you are planning a market research project, you do need to think ahead and craft a comprehensive deliverables strategy. The key components of this strategy will likely include some mix of:

• Interactive workshop (to engage clients—internal or external—in the data analysis process)
• Internal blogs or podcasts
• On-site presentation(s)
• One-on-one briefings for key executives
• Slide deck (either brief or comprehensive)
• Text document: Written executive summary or top-line report
• Web conferences (perhaps one for each regional or functional division of a company)
• White papers (most common in technology fields)
• For quantitative projects, deliverables may also include:
  • Raw data
  • Tables (the tables showing all data as cross-tabs)
  • Online reporting tools (these vary a great deal, but generally allow you to do data analysis on the fly)
• For qualitative projects, deliverables may also include:
  • Video, often edited to show only the most important parts
  • Audio files
  • Transcripts

So a slide deck, in reality, is only one part of the strategy. It alone can’t carry the messages from a study with impact or credibility.

That said, a well-crafted PowerPoint (or Keynote, for some Mac users) report is an excellent way to deliver a research project’s key findings. It allows for easy sharing, reference, and reuse. Of course, the reports need to be well designed, the charts clearly labeled, and options for customization offered. Simply chugging out a slide deck where you have a chart or table for every item that was in a questionnaire is awful.

And if you want to jazz up those charts, there are options available (check out iCharts). And if you want to complement or replace PPT with an online tool? Great. Most of the major online research tools also include interactive reporting (check out ConfirmIt and Vovici).

But the most important thing? A good presenter! An engaged, articulate speaker who can bring the data to life. Who can add context to the results. Who can weave otherwise lifeless data points into compelling “so whats.”  Market researchers will start using more interactive reporting tools in the future. But without a good presenter—grounded in both research methodology and relevant project context—the deliverables are still going to be ineffective.  I don’t care how flashy your interactive tool is; if a compelling, intelligent speaker isn’t there to discuss the key findings, it ain’t gonna have much more impact than a slide deck.

Consider your college experience: which professor had the most impact on you? The one who was charismatic in the classroom or the one with the best lecture materials? Or consider television: which TV talk show personality do you like best? The one with the fanciest set, or the one who strikes you as most authentic?

Bottom Line:

It’s always great to challenge the status quo. To get researchers rethinking how we do things. But PowerPoint is too often blamed for research’s inability to impact decision making. PowerPoint is a software program.

So let’s use it, without abusing it. Let’s stop blaming slideware, and start using it sensibly as one part of a comprehensive deliverables strategy.

[Interested in more on planning and delivering research results? Check out the Research Rockstar classes, “How to Package and Deliver Market Research Results” (available to Free and VIP members) and “How to Promote Market Research” (available to VIP members)]

Managing in-house market research is tough work. And your internal clients don’t make it easy, do they?

Your internal clients say they want powerful, fresh, objective customer insights. But too often, their behavior shows that they just want you to confirm their personal views.

Your internal clients are enthusiastic at project kick-off. But by the time data is delivered—even just a few weeks later in some cases—they seem to have lost interest.

They say they want current customer data to fuel an important decision. But then tell you that decision needs to be made next week.

They fund an important, time-sensitive research study, but neglect to tell you that they will be on vacation during the design phase. Oh, and that they want final approval on any instruments.

Sound familiar? I bet it does. You have a tough job.

If it helps, you are not alone. I work with lots of people who face these challenges daily. So we work on educating internal clients, establishing sensible (not onerous) customer research policies, and taking other actions to improve how market research is designed, managed and shared.  In some cases, some pretty dramatic changes are required. In others, just some minor tweaks.

Even a few small changes can make your tough job a little bit easier.

[Do you get Research Rockstar blog posts via RSS? If not, here's the link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ResearchRockstar]

A client shared a great story yesterday, one that I just have to pass on. I have sanitized it a bit, to “protect the innocent.”

Theresa is a market research manager at a consumer electronics company. Her team of 4 researchers used to be a team of 7, so workloads are pretty rough.

She recently had an executive from another department share his concern that customers were being over-surveyed. He knew some non-research employees were using SurveyMonkey and similar tools to conduct customer surveys. He asked Theresa to recommend a course of action.

Knowing that the issue is a lot more complex than just telling people to “stop,” she recruited six people from the different departments involved in the rogue activity. Once gathered in a conference room, she showed them the Research Rockstar class, “Embracing Rogue Research.” The 1-hour class acknowledges the pros and cons of decentralized research, suggests policy options, and even tools to make everyone’s life easier.

The outcome? Everyone had a common language to discuss the issue (even the non-researchers), some new options came to light, and a very constructive discussion ended up in firm, embraced policy decisions. As a bonus benefit, Theresa even got the attendees to commit to an ongoing, company-wide research council, which would meet quarterly. Now, these people from various functional areas will become research ambassadors.

Also, Theresa didn’t feel like the bad guy. She was sharing information from an objective third party (Research Rockstar). She was simply delivering the information in a non-confrontational way, and then facilitating the decision making process.

What a great way to use a Research Rockstar class!

For a current, downloadable class list (PDF), click here: CLASS LIST.

Want to help plan Research Rockstar’s next online class topic? If so, please take this little one-question poll. Hey, I have to practice what I preach, don’t I?

BTW, this is a free poll from Vorbeo. Cool site, amazingly simple tool.

[I welcome any and all comments! Every 2 weeks I randomly select a commenter to win a Rockstar Mug: PIC. Next drawing is 10/23.]

I am a big fan of online training; the convenience (no travel!), the access (watch a class as many times as you want!), the immediacy (get the info you want NOW!), and the customization (skip the stuff you know; fast forward to the good stuff!). Oh, and it’s 80% of Research Rockstar’s business. So, yeah, I am a little biased.

But online training isn’t the best option for all market research topics, or for all learners. From time to time I do have clients for whom I recommend in-person training options. This is especially true for clients interested in focus group moderating and hands-on statistical analysis. Focus group moderation and hands-on statistical analysis do require teacher interaction, as the nuances can get complex and immediate teacher feedback is critical. And there is the occasional client who really does prefer attending 2-day seminars away from home (some people just learn better when they are in a different setting).

When I do recommend in-person training, these are the options I most often suggest:

• Burke Institute: I ran an agency for 13 years, and this is where I sent my employees for in-person training. Great content, excellent teachers.
• RIVA: Some of the best moderators I have worked with had their training at RIVA.
• SPSS: If you want hands-on training with SPSS, well, it’s kinda obvious.

And then there are market research conferences and workshops where some excellent educational content is available. Some of these are annual events:

• The Market Research Event (IIR)
• The AMA’s Market Research Conference
• The Marketing Research Association (MRA) hosts several learning events and conferences each year:
• CASRO hosts several conferences and in-person educational events each year as well.

The topics offered in Research Rockstar’s online training library are generally different from the ones offered by in-person venues. Research Rockstar classes tend to focus on:

• Practical considerations when designing projects
• Best practices for hiring and managing market research agencies
• Tips for managing specific types of projects (such as message testing, product concept testing, customer loyalty, and brand awareness studies)
• Recommendations for how to create and promote market research results within your organization
• Concise overviews of market research methods and techniques
• Strategies for maximizing market research success

These topics can be handled well in online formats. The content is precise and can be clearly documented. And these are topics that are convenient to have online as a reference tool; Research Rockstar members just log-in anytime they need a refresher.

So, yes, I’m an advocate for online training. But several excellent options do exist for in-person training on market research topics.

[Did I miss your favorite in-person market research training resource? Please add it in the comments. Thanks.]

[Seeking some type of market research-related training but having trouble finding resources? Email or call me with your topic of interest, and I’ll try to make a recommendation.]

[Read our recent News Release about Research Rockstar Online Training: NEWS]

As you can see, the web-site updates are complete! What do you think of the new look and new features? Please give me your feedback here, by phone or by email.

For those of you who buy Research Rockstar classes, the biggest news is that I have simplified the process of buying and watching them. Now, access to classes is based on memberships. Four membership levels are offered, starting with Free. Yes, Free. The higher the membership level, the more stuff you get.

As a Rockstar member, you get access to a members-only page where you will see various courses, eBooks, and templates listed. Just click to view a class (no more downloading huge files!). Or, click to download a PDF (for eBooks and templates). And view classes as many times as you wish.  New classes are added monthly, sometimes even weekly, so check your membership page periodically.

I want to thank the team at Men with Pens for making the updated site look so great.  You guys rock!

So many topics, so little time! With the first 10 courses now completely developed and available, I am busy planning which courses to develop next. Would you like to help? Here is a link to a single-question poll. Yes, I’m doing a little market research of my own.  I’d love to know which topic you would like to see produced as a Research Rockstar online course.

Thanks for your input!

In your organization, do you have a growing number of non-market researchers doing market research? You know what I mean: people using free or low-cost tools like Survey Monkey, Zoomerang and Wufoo to collect data without the sanctioning of the research department? Or those gathering customer insights from Twitter, Facebook, or their own personal blogs?

You are not alone.

It’s rampant. And the genie is out of the bottle.

Of course, if it gets out of hand, we have to be concerned about:

• Annoying customers too many research requests. Especially those that may be redundant.
• Inconsistent standards, such that data from different efforts cannot be compared.
• Poor questionnaire design, leading to misleading data, or worse data.

You get the drift.

So what to do? Try to stop it? I don’t think so.

Look, you now have a volunteer army of market researchers (even if they don’t know it). They are data collectors, insight mavens and customer listeners. GREAT!

Yeah, I know the familiar arguments: “…it takes training,” or, as someone tweeted to me recently, “…just because you could pull out your own tooth doesn’t mean you should.” Uh huh.

Look, I know it’s uncomfortable. We market researchers take a lot of pride in our skills, discipline and experience. But the genie is out of the bottle, and it isn’t going back in.

So we have a choice:
1.    Deny, complain, prohibit. (good luck with that)
2.    Find a way to leverage the trend in a sensible way.

So we should let it run rampant?

Does this mean we should sanction all DIY customer surveys? Encourage sharing of all market insights gathered from social networking sites?

No, of course not.

• We still have to make sure our valued customers are not over-surveyed, or subjected to bad questionnaire designs.
• We must make sure research is coordinated (no redundant studies, please).
• We have to help people understand what results are anecdotal versus reliably conclusive.
• We must make sure confidential information is protected (training people on what information is confidential and should not be shared or even hinted at on social media forums, etc).
• We need to make sure suitable data is shared, and shared appropriately.

And that’s where training and policies come into play.  With a little planning and common sense, success is absolutely feasible.

Embrace the Chaos!

[Research Rockstar now offers a one-hour online course to help you turn unsanctioned market research into useful insights.  Check out, "Leading Your Volunteer Army: Turning Unsanctioned Research into Market Insight Gold." Or email info@ResearchRockstar.com]

You’ve just spent weeks, maybe months, executing a great primary market research project. You created a final report that just sings (insert angel chorus sounds here). It’s full of insights and fresh perspectives that could save or make real money for your organization.

Any nobody is reading it.

Ouch.

Why not? Is the issue motivation? Is it just too hard for your audience to prioritize taking the time to read the report?

Or is it skill? Are they uncomfortable reading market research data? Or unsure how to tackle a report efficiently?

In my experience, a little training can go a long way in these situations. So I created a free tutorial, “10 Tips for Reading Market Research Reports.” A 10 minute edition is on YouTube, and the full, 23 minute version can be downloaded as a Flash file from the Research Rockstar store. Did I mention that it is free?

Please send these links to any colleagues you have who may be dragging their feet. With these 10 tips, they’ll learn great tactics for reading a market research report so that they can get what they need from it,  easily and efficiently.

Link to YouTube edition.

Link to Flash version download.

Today I read a blog that stated, “… the utility of market research is often minimal.  Many times the data is worthless even before the survey hits the field due to quickly changing business conditions, and consumers are over surveyed and fatigued by the constant bombardment of surveys online or elsewhere.” The blog is from The Armory, and is authored by Brendan Miller. I like Brendan’s posts—he has strong opinions and clearly enjoys innovative thinking. But given how many blogs and articles I have seen lately that express a similar point of view, I just have to respond.

Look, traditional market research is flawed. We all know that. It has its issues—sample quality being a biggie these days. And Brendan sums up another one nicely,  “Traditional research only captures a moment in time.” True, true, and market researchers are well aware of this (and advise clients accordingly).

But let’s not pretend social media is the elixir…the magic potion to cure all market research ills. Yes, social media as a research tool has real benefits and the innovation is exciting for suppliers and clients alike (tip of the hat on a nice piece to Fresh Networks). I am particularly interested in techniques for monitoring online conversations (nice intro by Beth Harte here, plus do include Crimson Hexagon).  But if we set unrealistic expectations about how fantastic social media is as a market research tool, we will ultimately disappoint clients, or worse (deliver misleading or egregiously flawed research).

Yes, it sounds great to make sweeping statements about social media-based research  “…like creating online customer forums can help marketers take an active and continuous listening approach.  Their insights will be timelier and therefore more relevant.” Timely? Perhaps if people happen to be talking about something you care about when you care about it. But alas, these methods also have inherent limitations and biases.

Heresy, you say?! Yes, social media-based market research has real limitations. Two of the major issues:

1.    The Popcorn effect (well, that’s what I call it anyway). When someone is particularly frustrated or particularly thrilled they “pop” onto a blog or user forum or review site and share a comment online. Many online forums suffer from these extremes, so we have to be careful. (In contrast, surveys capture a fuller spectrum of response including neutrals—which are a legitimate response and critical context in many cases).
2.    Online personas. How people talk, behave and portray themselves online is very different than how they do these things in-person. Ask anyone who has been on an online dating site and then met the individual in-person; the gap between online and in-person can be shocking.  And usually not in a good way. As just one example, in some markets, monitoring online communities would suggest an extremely rational set of buying behaviors backed up by shared reviews and deep, objective product evaluations. But in (gasp!) a focus group, a little discussion leads to people confessing to each other that the tie-breaker between brand A and brand B was based on an entirely irrational input (“I wanted my new HDTV to be sleeker than my brother’s”, the knowing nods of the other group members allowing the moderator to use the group dynamic to probe further and peel the onion on customer behaviors).

Bottom-line

The market researcher who clings to conventional surveys and focus groups like a life raft on a turbulent sea is going to drown. Those who judiciously add various social media and ethnographic-based methods along with some of the other fabulous new qualitative research tools out there will be able to navigate through the storm—and best help clients choose the methods (or mix) for their unique needs. But let’s not pretend that social media-based research is a magic cure-all; too many snake oil salesmen will only ultimately turn off clients and lead to a backlash.  And that’s not going to do anyone and good.

These days, keeping employees motivated is no small task. Between workplace financial concerns, and ones at home, people become discouraged, even apathetic.

So now is a great time to think creatively about re-igniting employee passion.  And to do that, a little customer insight can go a long way.

Customer Insights Ignite

In most companies, only a small percentage of employees have direct customer contact. And even of those that do, such as in retail, they are so busy that it is hard for them to really observe customers and get a sense of their attitudes and behaviors.

Yet I can tell you from 20 years of experience, that when people get the opportunity to listen to and observe clients-amazing things happen.  Here are some examples I have personally witnessed

• Engineers erupting into a productive debate about how an existing product can be modified to meet an emerging customer need.
• Sales people excitedly specifying new customer training materials that they want to deliver personally.
• Executives formulating new pricing models on the spot.
• Product managers devising new, hard-hitting competitive positions.

And that’s just a few examples.

So yes, the mood in companies these days is a little down. But with a relatively small investment, we can re-ignite employee passion.

How?

There are several options, but the fastest track is to simply use updated versions of a conventional research technique: focus groups.

Do you think of focus groups as a kind of dated methodology? Yeah, they can be. But there are also lots of very cool, new techniques used in focus groups these days that make them fun for participants, and will generate lots of “aha!” moments for observers. And focus groups are fantastic because you can have a group of employees observing in real-time, and get a DVD to those that were not able to attend.  Many focus groups facilities have observation rooms that can comfortably sit 15 or even 20 people.

If you don’t have a research agency partner that does focus groups, you can find some on the Quirks.com or the QRCA (www.qrca.org) sites, or shoot me an email and I’ll give you some more suggestions. If you are on a really tight budget and want to do it in-house, you can contact focus group facilities on your own-and they will connect you with freelance moderators in their areas.

If you have any questions or comments, please add them here, or call the blog requests line at 508.691.6004.

One of my main motivations for starting Research RockStar is to provide an alterative to bloated, boring market research training. I’ve taken plenty of training classes myself over the years and I’ve sent employees to many as well. And with precious few exceptions, they were bloated and boring.  Having to slog through two days of a monotone presentation only to get about an hour’s worth of content I felt I could actually use, if that.  I always felt that I’d be willing to pay more if somebody would just give me the information I needed and let me get on with my life. How many times have you taken a training course and felt that you really got a good return on your investment?  Not only the cost of the seminar, but the cost of your time?  I think there’s a reason why online training is taking off.  Travel cost is certainly one of them.  Time out of the office, another.  Convenience and instant access—to me, that’s the real bingo.

Now is online training for everything?  No, absolutely not.  There are definitely times when in-person training is best.  There are some topics that are so complex and have so many nuances that having an instructor in the room with you is important.  For example, I would never suggest taking a focus group moderation class online.  Could you get some basics that way?  Sure, but it’s the kind of thing you need coaching for.  So for focus group moderation, I do recommend in-person training.  But there are a lot of other market research topics that are far more cut and dry.  They have clearly defined best practices. The how-to’s can be precisely mapped out on a flow chart. For these topics, online training is the way to go. Ad that’s what Research RockStar will be building over the next few months.

Want to give it a try? Check out our currently available MicroTopics here.