If you're a small to mid-sized company, you need a plan to conduct ongoing research with your clients or customers. If you don't know why they choose you, how they navigate your line of products, and what will keep them coming back, your business results will be sub-optimal.
As the head of an Atlanta marketing consulting firm who has been employed by a number of America's largest companies over the past 15 years, I design extensive market research projects for my clients. And while focus groups, in-home or in-store interviews, and quantitative surveys are very helpful for gathering the critical information that can help firms make smarter sales and marketing choices, it's easy to get valuable results, right now, with a few straight-forward techniques.
The first- - and maybe most difficult- - thing you need to do is to approach your business, your industry, and your target market from a fresh, unprejudiced point of view (this is why many corporations find it particularly valuable to bring on an external resource). After years of being in the same market, many business owners or entrepreneurs develop powerful views as to what works and why. The issue is that they have developed a group of filters that only confirm what they expect to see, and they become blind to information that counters their pre-conceived viewpoints. The only viable way to combat this is to recognize it and to consciously work against it.
The second thing is to pick out your research priorities. What is the most important thing you want to find out more about your customers or buyers? What piece of vital information are you missing about your product or service offering? What's the one thing you'd most like to know about why your customer base behaves the way it does?
When you have clarified what you want to understand, work on distilling it down to the simplest, concise set of questions you can. Discard lingo and confusing terms and describe everything like you would if you were in the fourth grade. Use basic 'who ', 'what ', 'when ', 'why ', 'how ', and 'where ' questions whenever it's possible. Here are a few questions to get you started:
- Where did you hear about us? Who else did you check out? Why did you ultimately decide to go with us?
- What did you like best about your experience? What's they one thing that would have made it better for you?
- Why did you pick out this product (or service)? How did it catch your attention?
- When you tell your friends about us, what will you focus on?
The best way to ask these questions is casually, on an one-to-one basis. Smile softly when you talk, and use a neutral tone that will help folks understand that you appreciate their objective, candid feedback. Don't interrogate; keep your questions to just one or two at a time, unless the individual you are talking with cares to share in increased detail. Listen intently. After each encounter, take a moment to instantly note down a summary of the feedback you received- - don't rely on your memory, which will skew the results because you'll end up processing the feedback through your filter of biases and preconceptions.
As a small- to mid-sized business, you may not have the giant market research budget top companies enjoy- - but by employing this straightforward process on a continual basis, it's possible to get the type of information that can help you make better, more informed decisions. Begin today!
As the head of an Atlanta marketing consulting firm who has been employed by a number of America's largest companies over the past 15 years, I design extensive market research projects for my clients. And while focus groups, in-home or in-store interviews, and quantitative surveys are very helpful for gathering the critical information that can help firms make smarter sales and marketing choices, it's easy to get valuable results, right now, with a few straight-forward techniques.
The first- - and maybe most difficult- - thing you need to do is to approach your business, your industry, and your target market from a fresh, unprejudiced point of view (this is why many corporations find it particularly valuable to bring on an external resource). After years of being in the same market, many business owners or entrepreneurs develop powerful views as to what works and why. The issue is that they have developed a group of filters that only confirm what they expect to see, and they become blind to information that counters their pre-conceived viewpoints. The only viable way to combat this is to recognize it and to consciously work against it.
The second thing is to pick out your research priorities. What is the most important thing you want to find out more about your customers or buyers? What piece of vital information are you missing about your product or service offering? What's the one thing you'd most like to know about why your customer base behaves the way it does?
When you have clarified what you want to understand, work on distilling it down to the simplest, concise set of questions you can. Discard lingo and confusing terms and describe everything like you would if you were in the fourth grade. Use basic 'who ', 'what ', 'when ', 'why ', 'how ', and 'where ' questions whenever it's possible. Here are a few questions to get you started:
- Where did you hear about us? Who else did you check out? Why did you ultimately decide to go with us?
- What did you like best about your experience? What's they one thing that would have made it better for you?
- Why did you pick out this product (or service)? How did it catch your attention?
- When you tell your friends about us, what will you focus on?
The best way to ask these questions is casually, on an one-to-one basis. Smile softly when you talk, and use a neutral tone that will help folks understand that you appreciate their objective, candid feedback. Don't interrogate; keep your questions to just one or two at a time, unless the individual you are talking with cares to share in increased detail. Listen intently. After each encounter, take a moment to instantly note down a summary of the feedback you received- - don't rely on your memory, which will skew the results because you'll end up processing the feedback through your filter of biases and preconceptions.
As a small- to mid-sized business, you may not have the giant market research budget top companies enjoy- - but by employing this straightforward process on a continual basis, it's possible to get the type of information that can help you make better, more informed decisions. Begin today!
About the Author:
Marie Elwood runs Increased Results, a marketing consulting firm in Atlanta, Georgia that concentrates on customer insights and new product commercialization.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário