A Do-It-Yourself Approach to Market Research
One of the difficulties small manufacturers face is the need to know
their products, industry and customers-all of which change rapidly and,
sometimes, dramatically. In acquiring this information, business owners
can spend hundreds, even thousands, of dollars for focus groups and
surveys. They can, however, significantly reduce their costs by doing
the research in-house. There are certainly times when it is critical
to have the best expertise you can afford. Often, however, doing it
yourself not only saves money but brings other tangible rewards.
First, completely understanding your product, customer and industry
will yield benefits far outside the confines of the specific
questions. For example, what you learn today about your industry and
the changes it is facing may push you to ask questions that lead to
significant changes in operation.
Second, seeing the product(s) through the customer's eyes may
lead you to improve existing products or develop new ones. It takes
practice to drop your own biases and defenses about your products, but
once you do so, the insights you gain are tremendous.
Third, learning why the customer buys your product and not
your competitor's (or vice versa) can inform product development, advertising
and sales. Asking good, open-ended questions doesn't require extensive
training in anything except listening and a genuine desire to understand
another's perspective.
Once you've opted to conduct your research in-house, numerous sources
are available to guide you through the maze of market research. Before
you jump to the Internet or visit the library, however, take a few minutes
to reflect and write about the following questions, being as
specific as possible:
- What do you want to know?
- Why do you want to know this?
- What can/will you do with the information?
I suggest that you begin by understanding your market in general.
Even if you THINK you know your market inside and out, make sure.
Check out the latest demographics and statistics. Using secondary
sources such as the Small Business Administration (www.sba.com),
the National Federation of Independent Business (www.nfib.org),
and American Demographics (www.inside.com)
can give you industry, geographic and competitor data. Check out the
logical suspects for information as well: local chambers of commerce
and colleges/universities (especially the business schools).
Next, narrow your search to the specifics about the customer, product
and industry. Also, find out if someone has already done some of
the work. Contact your business and industry associations and state
resources to see if someone has or is working on these areas. Remember,
professors publish their research in journals available through college/university
libraries. For example, www.umsystem.edu/library
allows you to search many publications and download abstracts or full-text
articles. The popular press is another vehicle for getting general and
specific information you need. Most of these publications (INC,
FastCompany, Red Herring, etc.) are available online and
easily searchable by topic.
Once you are comfortable that you know what your market looks like
today—the demographics of your customers and the firmographics
of your competitors—and you have perused the literature for articles,
you are ready to do primary research. This requires that you
once again reflect and write.
Based on what you have learned so far in your search, create four
or five open-ended questions that you want to ask your customer.
These questions should be general enough to not bias the response, yet
specific enough to provide you with useable information. One approach
is to ask compare-and-contrast questions, such as "What do you
like about ..." or "What do you not like about ..." Make
the questions comfortable for the customer to answer. Remember, you
are seeking information, not selling your product! Then, go do it. Make
a call on a customer and ask your questions. Afterwards reflect on the
answers. Did you get what you wanted? If not, hone your questions and
do it again.
Observation is another easy method to do if you have a retail
product. Casually observe who picks up and takes or puts back your product.
These data can be enormously helpful in understanding who buys and who
doesn't, as well as how well your product is positioned. At trade shows,
combining observation with a few targeted questions can elicit useful
feedback from potential customers and competitors. You may want to review
the many valuable web sites and books on interviewing and observation
techniques before striking out on your own. Check out www.entreworld.org
for some easy-to-access market research tools.
Doing market research can be a daunting endeavor if you think you
have to answer all the questions and get all the information you want.
If you tackle it one small piece at a time and devote some resources
to increasing your knowledge, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how
much you learn about your product, customer and industry.
Send this article to a friend
Authored by: Gwen Richtermeyer, Ph.D., Director
of Primary Research for BRIDG—Business Research and Information
Development Group—for University of Missouri Extension Business
Development Program
Source: Creating Quality Newsletter, Volume
12, Number 1, January 2003
go
back
Newsletter archives: 2004
| 2003
| 2002
| 2001
