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This question has been closed, and points have been awarded.
B2b Market Research - This Is Killing Me
Posted By: Dave* on 11/8/2004 7:59 PM (CST) 125 Points
I'm the marketing manager at a 75-person software company that sells to a very specific business-to-government niche. About a year ago, I said to my boss "We make enormous strategic decisions based very little information. We should do some market research."

He didn't seem too keen at the time, but a couple of weeks ago he said "Here's $40K. Get some market research done. I want it done by the end of the year."

(He's kinda like that.)

I'm not sure how to proceed. Mostly, I'm not sure how to get good value for my money. My goals for the market research aren't too lofty -- in each market segment, learn more about what the business pains are, how our customers make decisions, how they view the various vendors in the market, and so on.

I'm concerned that my $40K is going to be small potatoes to a market research firm, and it'll get me a couple of hastily-assembled focus groups that won't tell me anything I can't find out myself with a good list of questions, a telephone, a pencil and a pad of paper.

(Another problem is that I'm not convinced that our sales team has the organizational chutzpah to act on what we discover out. Maybe that's a posting for another day...)

In the meantime, I'm hoping someone can give me advice on how to proceed. What are the dangers of attempting "home-grown" market research? What are the benefits of going with an outside firm?

Posted by: mbarber Member Response
11/8/2004 8:07 PM (CST)
Gidday Dave - I'm going to make only one suggestion - you speak to some of the people listed on the right hand side of this page and hire their services.

You have one huge advantage that many to this forum do not have - a budget. Engaging one of the professionals listed that specialises in this arena will go an awfully long way to helping you achieve your aims.

Thoughts on your second musing are accurate - just having the info doesn't mean the organisation has the ability to use it - ensure you have a page of 'caveat' at the end of the preso you make wherein you pose 'how do we act on it and do we have the skill sets?'

By the way, I'm hoping you have more than 40K (not that you should need more than that). If not, in future keep your initial budget to yourself until you've got an idea of who you want to use :-)
 
Posted by: mgoodman Member Response
11/8/2004 9:42 PM (CST)
A few reactions.

First, don't rely on focus groups. They don't cost much, and they're usually worth what you pay for them. They're good when you want some subjective, qualitative input, but useless if you're going to actually make real decisions based on them.

So much for that rant.

Second, you might consider a baseline habits, pracitces, usage, and attitude survey among a projectable base of users and prospective users. What you would do is create a questionnaire (phone or mail, depending on the advice of your market research supplier) that asks about what people do now, what products/suppliers they value, why, what they don't have that they wish they did, etc. Administer the questionnaire to a projectable sampling of your target audience.

That should not only provide some good input for product development and other marketing mix decisions, but it will also become a baseline for measuring the success of what you end up doing. You simply repeat the same questionnaire next year, using the same approach, and compare results from year to year.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you want some suggested suppliers. I know a few who do a really good job of stuff like this. (They are US-mostly, as far as I know.)
 
Posted by: Carl Crawford Member Response
11/8/2004 10:44 PM (CST)
hi dave,

DONT AWARD ME ANY POINTS

i am a frist year marketing students so..... i dont have much of an idea about what to do.

BUT you are the perfect candaite for the NEW feature of marketingprofs "The Prohect board".

You should email the moderator to find out more, Your question is PERFECT for the project board

Have a nice day

Carl Crawford
 
Posted by: Val (Moderator)* Moderator Response
11/8/2004 11:29 PM (CST)
Hiya Dave. I saw Carl's note and had to laugh. I was thinking the same thing. Only hitch is we won't be ready in time for your deadline, I'm afraid.

This month we're working on building a "Hire an Expert" board where folks like you can post projects like this at no charge, and experienced consultants can express interest and be invited to bid. Hopefully we'll be ready to go-live at the end of the month.

In the meantime, I'll send some emails to invite some of our top experts to review your question.

Best wishes,

Val
 
Posted by: Michele Accepted Answer
11/9/2004 12:02 AM (CST)
Hi Dave

Using research experts will ensure that you ask the right questions, of the right people, in the right way and that answers are presented in terms of actionable insights.

The key benefits of using an outside research firm are:

1. Objectivity:
the results will be analysed without internal bias

2. Respondent anonymity:
respondents will be reassured that the company will not see their individual replies and will be more honest about their perceptions;

3. Statistical accuracy:
both the sample and the results will be statistically accurate.

It seems to me like your project could easily be done using Internet based survey tools - both quantitative and qualitative in nature.

Thanks Val for bringing this question to my attention.

Michele.
 
Posted by: JBtron Accepted Answer
11/9/2004 8:31 AM (CST)
Dave,

Michele is SPOT ON! You must have an objective, projectable analysis performed on the marketspace, so that you can make intelligent decisions. Too many business decision have gone astray because someone in management followed a hunch instead of empirical data.

As a former player in the government Internet security space, I can tell you that performing market research on B2G market sector will be difficult, due to security, government and manufacturer agreements when folks get together at this level to launch or evaluate a B2G product or service. The pre-qualification of the candidates for the research may necessitate a DC-based research firm, only to raise the pool of B2G firms available for the research.

BUT, as you can tell by my response, I haven't got a clue about WHAT segment of the market you operate in, if you are a regulated (it's most likely that you ARE) service/product, and what your objectives are.

WHY are you conducting the research? Are you experiencing a competitive challenge to your brand or business model? Declining sales? Just “need a change”? I’ve seen all of these fail before because they hadn’t made sure they were getting the research for the RIGHT reasons, failed to manage expectations and got into hot water. The reasons should be as sound as the results you seek.

Hope this helps!

Best,

::JBtron
 
Posted by: Jim Deveau/Catalyst* Member Response
11/9/2004 9:22 AM (CST)
Hi Dave:

I would like to check in on your post and mention that I have a strong background in this area and a personal interest in your project. I also have alliances with other consultants in the B2G space (including military logistics backgrounds) - so this really depends (as JB pointed out) on your specific segments and government purchasing targets.

As for advice, I think you need to hone in on your objectives and your research goals. You have stated that you want to:

"in each market segment, learn more about what the business pains are, how our customers make decisions, how they view the various vendors in the market, and so on."

I suggest that you are embarking on a customer-focused solution selling approach, a guide to the strategic selling process, AND a competitive benchmarking exercise. It seems to me that you would want to break your research into 3 major components:

1. Solutions Selling: I would suggest a phone contact approach, backed up with an online survey. Your approach here would be to contact 3 groups of customers: current customers, prospects involved in the selling process, and leads that have not yet been nailed down. Each would be offered the same end-benefit - a look at your study results summarizing common issues and needs.

The key to this approach is going to be understanding the BUSINESS issues (as you have mentioned) and the BUSINESS OUTCOMES desired that your product can have a major role in.

2. Selling Process: I would contact a different set of customers for this work (ask too much of any contact, and they shut down). This would most likely be a set of upfront telephone conversations followed by and online survey to benchmark your results. Once again - you can offer a client-ready summary of your findings that might help clients understand best practices.

3. Competitive Benchmarking: Once again, I would go to a different set of prospects. Based on your timeline - you would need to make some assumptions on key attribures, but you can use an online survey to help confirm and gain your benchmarking feedback.

I have more perspectives to share with you than this space (and my time) will allow. Please feel free to link to my profile information by clicking on my name and send me an e-mail. We can follow-up by phone if you like.

I hope this helps.
 
Posted by: Jett* Member Response
11/9/2004 10:49 AM (CST)
Great advice above.

One of the primary benefits of outsourcing aside from objectivity is the fact that doing so will allow you to focus on your current duties and you won't have to take the time to learn how or take the RISK of doing improperly. You have a scapegoat (the consultant) if something doesn't pan out to your boss's satifaction.

I would be very interested in discussing the details with you and provide assistance any way I can. Please send me an email to discuss (just click on my name).

Thank You!
 
Posted by: D4Demand Member Response
11/9/2004 11:23 AM (CST)
As for your budget concerns, there are many small B2G research firms who can mount a 400-500 contact Usage and attitutes survey for $20,000 or less. I can think of two, and I'm not one of them.

If you use online research, you may be able to broaden your reach and speed up your results for less costs.

Be glad you have the budget. Talk to your local American Marketing Assn for reliable contacts in the research community.
 
Posted by: orobledo Member Response
11/10/2004 3:22 PM (CST)
I think that you need first to know which kind of info you need. And once you get it, this will be the imput of which out put? or for what purpose you will use this info.

Second, you have the expertise to make a market research in house? I mean, somebody of the organization stuff know how to make this job done? Do you have all the people do you need to implement this project? and also, you have the time to do it for this year-end? If no, I suggest you to find somebody inside the organization to act as a controller of a third party. This can help you to have a different piont of view and helps controlling the job of the organization you will contract to do the job.

At last, and with all the info that you will require to the market research company. I 'll set different interviews with all the companies that I can to make them know wich are the needs of this job and ask them to send a detailed proposition with budget and time line included.

With this you can compare which are the different posibilities they have and how much time and money you will spend in this job. Don't forget to have somebody to help you with this. Look around! you could have someone in your company that can help you with this.

I hope this can help you.
 
Posted by: blanalytics Member Response
11/18/2004 6:00 PM (CST)
Your issue is how to find not only your customers buy your potential customers and survey them with respect to your product's awareness, satisfaction, image, and also find out what features and benefits the customers are wanting most. Intenet surveys have been designed such that these custom business to business customers have been identified and the costs are now fairly reasonable.
 
Posted by: adel.al.samman Member Response
1/28/2008 1:55 AM (CST)
Why marketing research is fast growing in b2b service industries?
 


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