Case Study in Controlling Unsanctioned Research: Are Your Customers Over-surveyed?

A Research Rockstar 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.

Market Research Training Options

Online Training for market research? Yes! But for some learners, in-person training is also a good option. Resources listed here.

Customer Interview Projects with In-House Staff: Rewards & Risks

If you’re thinking about having non-researchers help out with customer interviews, it is certainly viable. And has some real benefits. But watch out for these common roadblocks.

Planning Your First Customer Satisfaction Research Project?

For example, a customer satisfaction research design meant to provide inputs to executive bonus calculations will be different than one designed primarily to inform organizational performance goals. In fact, any consultant or sales person who tells you their approach is the only legitimate one is only interested in sales—not insights.

DIY or Hire a Market Research Company?

Are you thinking about a market research project? If so, you may be debating whether you should hire an outside market research agency or do it in-house.

Of course, working with a market research agency is a big investment. Depending on the scope of your project, you may be looking at a $50,000, $100,000 or greater budget. Then again, a DIY approach can also add up—perhaps far more than you expect…