Customer Research - Delivering research but also opening doors to new business

August 4th 2009

Customer Research - Delivering research but also opening doors to new business

These are tough times for nearly everyone and in these circumstances something usually has to give. Despite their value, customer feedback programmes to measure business performance are sometimes downsized or even dropped.

CONSIDER THESE SIX FACTORS BEFORE MAKING SUCH A DECISION

1.    Consider if historic work has provided results that are “nice to have” rather than “must have”. How is the existing programme failing to meet your CURRENT needs?
 
2.    To obtain maximum benefit from such research, the communication (and discussion) of results should not end with the traditional presentation. Are you extracting the REAL value from the work - are you working with the outputs to best effect, understanding internal barriers to improved performance and planting the seeds for change in response to the NEW information you have?
 
3.    Some companies choose to turn to apparently cheaper solutions, such as online research. Beware, this could be a false economy. Is this the right approach for your target market? Consider how else the market could be approached. What does the approach say about you and how you relate to your customers?
 
4.    Regular customer satisfaction programmes eventually become stale in the effort to ensure “continuity”. Within your own business, familiarity with the format can become a turn off. It may be time to refresh and revitalise the process.

5.    Your competitors will have also been running customer research programmes at the same time as you, probably collecting similar data. It is often possible to share cost while still maintaining confidentiality of information. Syndicated customer research works, as IBR’s experience shows. It avoids duplication of cost, respondent fatigue, creates a more focussed approach and asks those “must have” rather than the “nice to have” questions.
 
6.  The rules of respondent confidentiality in market research can strangle a project, creating questions as well as answering them. Taking a different approach can leave the door open for you to engage and respond to respondents needs – there are other ways.
 
At IBR, our emphasis is on delivering information that can make a real difference. In one project run by David Dower, a £15K research investment delivered business worth £9m. In another, an in depth analysis of just five potential customers led to contract negotiations with two of them. We can deliver research - we can also open doors.

DAVID DOWER ~ DIRECTOR MARKET RESEARCH

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