Market Research Training from Research Rockstar

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.