You can learn how to harness customer insights into discovering new products services, or changes to those which already exist, that create a sustainable competitive advantage for your brand. It all starts with asking the right questions, using best practices in market research, to address customer needs:

• Watch your customers interact with your brand.  You’ll learn about how they use it, any difficulties they have with it, and other products which may address problems they have that they haven’t yet found a solution for.
• Learn how they make the purchase decision.  Is it alone, or with others?  Who influences their decisions?  What is the purchase experience like for them, and how can you make it better or easier?
• Talk to non-customers – what are the barriers to purchasing your product?  How can these barriers be overcome? Does the competition currently solving their problem in a way that you don’t?

Most importantly, understand that customers are NOT looking for product features.  They ARE looking for product benefits.  You can learn what these benefits are, and how they can be uniquely positioned, if you ask the question and really listen to the answers.

In a recent post, we described how online qualitative research can lower the cost of some respondent incentives.  Below, we discuss how this same methodology can lead marketers and consultants to a better understanding of market segments.

Segment identification

Many marketers are not sure how to segment their customer base, or potential customers.  Online research allows the moderator to break out respondents into separate rooms.  If there’s a point in a discussion where it appears that respondents are going in different directions, they can be separated into these rooms, where discussion can be conducted that is more relevant to their needs.

Access to Multiple Segments

Other times, marketers and consultants know that there are segments that exist, but can’t find a way to affordably reach each segment.  Online qualitative research often allows more respondents into a group than face-to-face research, facilitating more participation and also the ability to reach multiple segments at one time.  The discussion guide can be set up to allow groups to break off into separate rooms at the most optimal times in the conversation.

In-Depth Need Exploration

Because online qualitative research can span several days or more, the methodology can often yield a more comprehensive understanding of each segment’s needs. It can also result in more clearly defined messages that will appeal to each segment’s motivators and behavioral drivers.

If at all feasible, any qualitative study that explores segmentation opportunities should be followed up with a quantitative survey to confirm the presence of these segments, measure their size, and confirm differences that may exist.  However, an online qualitative study can provide a strong foundation for market segmentation efforts.

• Support from management – Using an outside resource can automatically add legitimacy to this type of project.  Consultants skilled in employee research can answer management questions, backed by other experiences and real-world lessons.

• Results reporting – Does the organization or management consultant truly have the internal resources to devote to reporting the results?  Not only do research experts provide a time-savings, but the efficiency they’ve gained in doing similar projects for other clients can provide an ultimate cost-savings benefit as well.

• Objectivity – Research experts provide objectivity in both designing questions and interpreting results, major hurdles that often face others who are close to the company.  Often, internal subjectivity isn’t even exposed until the data has been collected, resulting in a research effort that can only deliver sub-optimal insights.

By carefully evaluating when an outside research expert should be used versus a DIY-approach, management consultants can provide their clients with insights that can increase employee satisfaction, ultimately impacting their customers and improving their bottom line.

Most marketers and consultants know what to look for in the implementation of in-person qualitative research techniques. However, many aren’t aware of easy ways to maximize their return on investment when using these qualitative techniques in an online environment.  Hence, the first in our series on maximizing the use of online qualitative research – reducing the cost of respondent homework assignments.

Homework Assignments

In-person qualitative studies often ask respondents to complete an assignment beforehand to provide insights into their brand perceptions, product usage, or category consumption.  While it is often necessary to provide additional incentives to compensate respondents for their time, online research opens up new worlds to make these assignments more affordable for the client, thus reducing the cost of the research:

1. Sometimes respondents are asked to sort through magazines to find pictures indicating their perceptions of a concept or a product.  This requires respondents to find suitable literature, spend time cutting out the pictures, and then paste them onto paper or poster board.  Online, lower cost – respondents can be asked to find clip art or images that evoke the same perceptions. Online methods reduce the need for any printing, and physical cutting and pasting.
2. Respondents are asked to provide a video of themselves using a product, and bring in the video.  The researcher also has to provide equipment sufficiently large enough for other respondents to see the video. Online, lower cost –video can be easily uploaded, with other respondents immediately able to view on their computer screens.
3. Respondents keep a diary of product usage, or their feelings regarding a product.  They have to remember to bring the journal with them, and the writing can be burdensome, particularly among certain populations. Online, lower cost – respondents can upload a journal at any time, recorded either by typing or voice activation.  BONUS: respondents can also post their journals online to a social network, and researchers can observe reactions to these perceptions among the respondent’s friends, providing access to a larger audience and more in-depth insights.

There are certainly times when the homework required by respondents necessitates a live, in-person group.  However, online methods offer new flexibility and the opportunity to reduce research costs in many situations.

• Carefully define the objectives of the study, and what you want to learn from employees.  Sometimes consultants will approach these surveys with broad goals, which lead to results that are either impractical to act upon, or don’t yield information that can provide solid direction.  By working with staff to clearly define the purpose and what actions might be implemented, you improve your chances that the survey results will be meaningful and that any indicated actions will help the organization to achieve its bottom line goals.

• Make sure that leadership staff supports the goals of the study and communicates them to employees.  Employees take notice when they receive a personalized email from organizational leaders letting them know that a survey is coming their way.  They are more likely to respond to a survey when they know it has “teeth” behind it, and you’ll get a broader base of responses rather than hearing from those who are very happy (or unhappy). The responses you get will often be more thoughtful, allowing you to make recommendations that will have a greater impact.

• Limit the survey so that it takes no more than 10 minutes to complete.  While employees want to provide their feedback, longer surveys create fatigue among respondents, and diminish the quality of the data. By keeping the purposes of the study in mind when designing the survey, it will make it easier for you to achieve the study’s goal.

• Work with organizational leadership on a plan to communicate the results. By letting employees know that they have a voice and that their voice was heard, you add value to the survey, and enable them to feel that they are part of the process.

• Most importantly, the survey must be anonymous.  Completely.  No employee should know who else responded or didn’t respond, let alone the specific feedback that was provided.  Assuring employees that any and all responses will be kept confidential will assure you of getting the best data that reflects true employee opinion. This is why many consultants use a different research consultant for the survey – it provides employees with greater confidence that their opinions will be respected and that personal information will not be divulged.

Follow these guidelines, and not only will employees provide great feedback and insight, but your client will be singing your praises about the value-add that you provide.

earlier post

• Fit for other prospects: This is where it makes sense to look ahead.  Will this project or client position you favorably with other potential clients?  It may be the brand name, client need you can solve, or similarity to a key target group, but is there something in this project or client that will increase your ability to attract other prospects?  This is a key indicator that a project would be a good fit and worth the investment of your time to pursue.

• Fit for sought-after employees: You always want great talent, and potential projects and clients may position you more favorably with prospective employees or potential partners.  While many consultants and agencies currently have the luxury of being choosy in terms of new employees or partners, good clients can make you more attractive to the best talent out there.

• Provide case study material:  A project or client that is a good fit is likely to generate a great case study when you’re shopping around for other clients.  It might highlight some of your firm’s most desired capabilities or those in-house solutions which are particularly profitable.  In either case, if this project will provide your firm or agency with a powerful way to demonstrate your experience to others, it’s a good sign the project is worth pursuing.

• Potential for new testimonial: This goes back to brand name, possibly, or other connections the client may have.  If a testimonial from this client would be a great value to your website or other marketing efforts, it can be a great investment to submit a proposal for the new business.

We’ve included these criteria on our FREE RFP scorecard – a great and easy-to-use tool which can be used to uncover great RFP opportunities.  Feel free to download it from the right sidebar.  It can help you to find situations in which you can become a marketing hero!

The big lesson here, of course, is to conduct primary market research before making such a move.  A simple survey could have:

• Alerted Netflix to how and why this division would not be well-received.
• Saved the company money in product development and marketing spending.
• Engendered customer loyalty by demonstrating that the company truly cared about what its customers thought and wanted.
• Provided feedback on other ideas Netflix could have pursued which could have created high customer satisfaction
• Spared the company bad publicity
• Avoided the time and effort required to develop other marketing mix elements to support an untenable idea

As a marketing consultant or advertising agency, you face opportunities all the time to guide your clients to making good marketing decisions.

Be their marketing hero – demonstrate how market research can help them avoid making this type of mistake and how they can use customer feedback data to create greater company value and make generate higher returns on marketing investments.

The easiest way to immediately generate great returns for your clients is to form partnerships with others (e.g., designers, strategists, researchers).  This type of “teaming” approach can fill gaps in your knowledge base, generate deliverables in which you don’t necessarily want to be involved at a hands-on level, or provide specific niche or industry expertise.  Many consultants and agencies search the web for such partners, but here are some methods which others have found highly successful:

Word of Mouth – The best partners for you will be those who share your values and work ethic.  By talking with other consultants and agencies, you’ll quickly learn not only who they’ve used, but who they’d recommend to deliver the highest quality results.  It can be very helpful when someone has “tested” out a potential partner, and it can eliminate much of your guesswork.

LinkedIn – By using LinkedIn’s search function, you can quickly find potential partners.  View their websites and blogs to see how they present themselves, and discover what expertise they might have.  In addition, many consultants have had success in following these individuals on twitter to see what they’re talking about and what they “retweet.”  Any of these strategies can help you scope out possible teammates without them necessarily knowing that you’re inquiring about their skills, talents and expertise.

Marketing Profs – By visiting the forum on MarketingProfs, you’re able to access hundreds of marketing experts and pose real questions to them.  By reading their answers, you’ll not only get a glimpse into their style, but also their knowledge and experience.

Many clients appreciate the team approach as it ensures them that they are getting the highest quality work. It also demonstrates that you are able to bring others to the table who can increase returns on client investments.  In short, partnerships are a great way to demonstrate that you are a marketing hero.

However, consultants and agencies should carefully evaluate each RFP along several criteria. While you want to maximize your chance of winning the project, you also need a sense of how well the project ‘fits’ with your firm, and whether your involvement will pay off into a truly great partnership with that client.

There are several elements to consider- here are a few:

Previous experience with client situation:  This is a great indicator of ‘fit” – if you have experience solving similar problems for other clients, showcase how you approached the issue and how your specific method benefited the client.

Budget size: If you know the budget for the project, and it is much smaller than that which you have previously worked, you’ll want to honestly decide if you are prepared to scale down your efforts to meet that requirement.  If it’s much larger, you’ll want to make sure you have resources in place to deliver the same high quality you’ve provided before for smaller clients.

Comparison with competition: Consider who might also be competing for the bid – can you demonstrate a competitive advantage over other potential providers?  If you anticipate that they will have a leg up over you, what can you assert about your firm or agency to illustrate that you are uniquely qualified as the right choice for the project?

Project partnerships: This is where many small firms and agencies can compete with bigger players – reach out to others with whom you can partner that have strengths to address project requirements.  Demonstrate that while you may not have the staff full-time staff, or in-house expertise, that you have contacts who can work with you to exceed client expectations.

These are just a few of the criteria you’ll find included in our FREE RFP scorecard – a tool that can provide guidance on which RFPs make the most sense for your firm.  You can download it from the right sidebar. Try it out when evaluating your next RFP and let us know how well it works for you in becoming a marketing hero!

Company executives maximized the return on their research dollars to not only determine the benefits consumers wanted in the product (in this case it was value and convenience), but also how to best communicate with consumers and drive product appeal.  This article demonstrates that product testing, done well, can give your client a return on their investment that expands their power in the marketplace:

• Power with consumers – The fact that Knorr reached out to its target market and measured the appeal of its message ensures that it will maximize returns on investment in on advertising and marketing.  In “understanding the home cook, the time-pressured cook…” Knorr took the time to understand what the target market wanted, and how its product relates to the market’s emotional needs and solves a consumer problem.

• Power with retailers – Because Knorr was able to study potential demand and appeal, retailers are happy about sales, with response from these key partners being “quite positive”.  By studying consumer demand, Knorr was able to satisfy the need of its distribution, a key success factor.

• Power to investors – Knorr’s research efforts also demonstrate the ability of a company to save on expenditures.  The company adopted a commercial used in other countries and tested some adaptations to it in the US market, saving on creative and production costs.

You can bring testing to your client as a way of maximizing efforts in marketing their own product category and business.  Budgets aside, any client can employ a testing methodology to increase sales of their own products.

Be the consultant who gives your client the power to do so.