Whether you run a company, an organisation or a local Council, every good manager has questions. Why do people shop with our competitor down the street? What’s our market share? How well known (and/or respected) is my brand? What do my ratepayers really think about our service levels? Where are the most effective places to market my business? How can I make my employees happier (without paying them more!).
The logical thing to do when you have questions like these is to do some research. In some cases a “cheap and cheerful” customer or resident survey can provide some useful information. But if you’re serious about getting the right answers, there are three major reasons to consider using a research specialist:
Objectivity – Sometimes you’re just too close to the business to ask the right questions and risk hearing the wrong answers. For larger organisations, management may choose to hire an outside research firm to ensure the results are accurate, impartial and credible in the eyes of directors, customers and/or other stakeholders.
Resources – A professional research company employs qualified researchers, a research-specific call centre operation, and sophisticated software that will allow you to analyse the results in far more depth than is possible with standard database or spreadsheet programs.
Methodology – As the old saying goes, “garbage in, garbage out”. A professional researcher knows how to ask clear and simple questions using a variety of different measurement criteria. Likewise it’s critical to choose the correct (ie representative) respondent groups, minimize the possibility of sample error, and, remove any “nuisance variables” that can likewise distort results. Collectively this will enable you to get accurate and useful data back.
