With the summer season upon us, along comes a most welcomed relief for many market research project managers. The workload slows and creates a great opportunity to take care of… Continue reading Market Research Strategies: Summertime Activity for Survey Writers
“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.
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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, much like a juggler. Let’s look at this challenge and some tactics to address it.
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.
Did you learn everything you possibly could from your last project—not just from the final results, but by examining the process itself? Conducting a detailed review, a post mortem so to speak, can help pinpoint exactly what worked—and what needs work.
If you really want to get the most from your market research investments, the first step is to do a brutally honest audit of your current research resources. Yes, it takes time. But with a structured approach, I have seen it completed in as little as ten business days.
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.
To be frank, my opinion on this topic has changed in just the past year or two. Before then, I was an ardent believer that all research must by anonymous—no matter what. I felt that any direct follow-up would show research participants that their survey responses could result in unexpected communications—and even if “helpful”, this experience could still impact future willingness to participate in research.
In your organization, what happens when someone proposes a market research study?
* Do people roll their eyes?
* Do people perceive it as a decision making delay tactic?
* Do people readily volunteer to be involved in designing the project?
* Do any executive-level folks readily endorse the idea?
