04 Mar Talking Clients Out of Research
“I need to do some focus groups” – a common request we receive from clients. When we hesitate, there’s always a risk that they may be thinking, “what’s wrong, don’t they want my business?” Of course we want to work with you, but don’t be surprised if that sometimes means we’re talking clients out of research methodologies. At least to start.
Talking Clients Out of Research
Why? It’s easy to think research is needed and we frequently stress among clients and prospects the need for ongoing research. But, it’s a lot more difficult to know why you should spend precious marketing dollars to gather insights and what the best methodology may be to acquire the data. It’s even more difficult to truly know how you’ll use insights to grow your business.
Start at the End
Planning marketing insights and research takes time. To start, it’s essential to understand what information you’re looking for. What questions are you aiming to answer? That’s why we don’t start with methodologies; we start at the end. We talk with you to truly understand what it is you want to know. What problem will insights solve? Who do you need to talk with to get that information? How will knowing this information help your business? Then, and only then, can we talk with you about the means; the methodologies that can get you there.
Leveraging Insights to Grow Revenue
It’s not about doing research. It’s about what that information will tell you and how knowing it will inform your business and help you grow. Your investment will fail If you don’t take the time to define why you need research and how the business will leverage the insights.
At Axiom, we have deep expertise in helping our clients strategically plan for successful insights engagement. An important part of our process is to ensure your team has clearly defined the why and how. So, don’t be surprised when we try to talk you out of doing research…
For more insight into insights, contact Stacy at seinck@axiomcom.com.
Note: This is an excerpt from our most-popular blog post of the past five years, which was first published in 2017.
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