Consequently I'm pleased to say that I've been more than satisfied with the way they support our business.
Circulations Director – Newspaper Publishing
Insight
The reason why businesses conduct market research should be obvious, but the issue of what subjects to research, and over what frequency it's conducted, is, for most businesses, a little harder to understand. Perhaps these are the reasons why many businesses fail to conduct any market research whatsoever. Instead they withdraw from this process to make assumptions because it is easier to do so, and in the short term less expensive, in effect they work in a 'vacuum' or 'silo' devoid of learnt inputs. But through this approach inaccurate assumptions will ultimately become very costly, as shown in Strategic Planning.
Yet the one factor that nearly all businesses measure is the competition. They become aware of what products and services the competition is selling, what prices they are selling them at, and in what sectors they are particularly strong or weak. This level of insight can often come from your sales people, and extremely valid as it is, a deeper interpretation is necessary for any business that demands a greater grasp of the overall marketplace. Simply because ABC Ltd is selling their products/services into a particular sector is not a good enough reason for you to be there too. For starters there may be no guarantees that your competitor has conducted anymore research than you have, so following their lead with a strategy of reduced prices runs the risk of increased failure.
Ideally, you should be surveying a broad range of information sources; your own customers' views and trends, new target groups, import/export opportunities, technological challenges, political issues that may affect your ability to function profitably, supplier developments and of course the full extent of the competition. These are just a few of the considerations you will need to gather data on, and what's more you will need to do it regularly.
As far as we can tell, there are no commercial sectors which are entirely immune from change. Yes, of course there are some businesses that are not exposed to rapid changes in the same way as businesses in the communications sector might be. But that doesn't not make them exempt from monitoring a change in attitudes, it simply means the frequency in which they conduct their research is longer between analysis.
The purpose for conducting all market research is to ensure that you give your organisation the best possible chance of success. It is a process which allows a business the insight into how best to align its skills or its products for commercial gain, in essence it minimises risk, both to the consumer and the business. But with gathering insight, comes understanding the inputs and sensibly determining the best chance of success. A recent example being the case of an exploratory primary research survey (a dedicated process paid for by the client, rather than using information publicly available) which through its findings identified the market was not conducive for exploitation. The client saved thousands of £'s pressing on with a venture that could have had dire consequences. However, should the opportunity arise again they will be ready to re-evaluate their position further and with a piece of research that they can use to benchmark subsequent change.
Market research can be conducted through many techniques, from secondary data available publicly to primary data that comes at a cost. In the following sections, we give a little more insight, into the methods used to collect 'insight'.
If your organisation would benefit from having a conversation with us about Insight, telephone us on 01788 815327, or email us at insight@genesisdm.co.uk.