When Do Market Research Clients and Suppliers Work Best Together?

As for articles such as the recent Greenbook post? Sure, it is fine to vent—for both clients and market research suppliers. Nothing wrong with that! But the real issue is this: how do we step away from recycled platitudes about client-supplier relationships and make real change? When do market research agencies and clients work best together? Perhaps when …

Market Research Myopia: What the Industry Isn’t Seeing in its Own Research

“Market research firm releases pet ownership study: Forgets to survey people who own cats.”

Can you imagine? Conducting a study on a topic, and forgetting to include participants who represent a large percent of the market?

It happens all too often. And we cannot blame the DIY researchers. I have met the enemy, as the saying goes, and it is us.

Customer Satisfaction Survey Results: Jumping To Conclusions

If you are tracking customer satisfaction at regular intervals, say quarterly or monthly, you may have found that your colleagues want explanations for every increase or decrease in scores—even minor… Continue reading Customer Satisfaction Survey Results: Jumping To Conclusions

Technology Ran Over Our Dogma

Technology is fundamentally changing how, when, where and with whom we do research. buy wellbutrin online buy wellbutrin no prescription generic These changes fundamentally challenge the market research industry’s tired… Continue reading Technology Ran Over Our Dogma

Market Research Budget Planning Tip 1: Getting Lower Fees from Your Research Suppliers

One of the easiest ways to improve budget efficiency is to simply ask your research suppliers: “What options can you offer to reduce our research costs?” Let them know you are open to creative ideas.

A New Type of Research Agency, Inspired by Stan Sthanunathan, Coca Cola VP of Global Insights

While Stan was presenting at the AMA’s Marketing Research Conference this week, he shared his view that for market research agencies to make the leap to being truly valuable to clients, they need to do more synthesis and make proactive recommendations. OK, coming from the guy who buys market research for Coca Cola, that sounds great. But is there broader demand for market researcers who can synthesize and be proactive?

How to Write a Market Research RFP

RFPs range widely in terms of their level of sophistication and complexity. If your need is for a simple project, do yourself a favor: keep your RFP simple. It will save you a lot of time when the proposals come back and you actually have to read them.

At minimum, a market research RFP states parameters and requests responses to the basics:

Market Research Agencies: 2 Tips for Clients

There are several points in a market research project where you, as the client-side manager, need to be particularly cautious. Here are two of the big ones.

2 Questions You Must Ask Before Hiring a Market Research Agency

Planning to hire a market research agency to help with a project? Before you do, be sure to create a list of questions you will use to assess potential agencies for fit and qualifications. Some questions are obvious: experience with similar projects, years in business, company size, and so on. But here are two important questions are often overlooked:

1. Do you belong to any professional associations? The answer should start with…

Grading Market Research Agency Websites

Do these websites matter? Aren’t they just electronic billboards?

I think they do matter. A lot of people who buy and use market research visit agency websites. And frankly, they are more likely to visit an agency site than that of a professional association (such as the MRA or CASRO) or of a trade publication (such as Quirk’s or Research Magazine). So these agency websites are, intentionally or not, a key source of client education.