Market Research Q&A

The best way to start any research is, to begin with, your goals. First, outline clearly what you are aiming to achieve with your research. This will ensure your research has a clear scope and direction. 
Some broad areas of research are outlined below. 
 
Customers 
As with any venture, it is vital to understand your customer when beginning a new professional services venture. Create a clear outline of your customer to help direct your business. Some questions to ask include:

• What is the size of your market? 
• What are the demographics of your market? 
• What do your customers value?  

Speak to customers
The most direct method of research is speaking directly with customers. This can be done via a phone call, in person, or online (eg via a survey). 
Review existing customer research 
An alternative method is reviewing existing customer research. Research that has already been conducted may be sufficient to satisfy your research goals. Search online, or contact industry bodies to see if there has been previous research conducted. 
Competition
Consider the level of competition that already exists in your intended industry. For example:

• How many other companies exist with the same services in your area/ geographic region?
• What is the pricing range in the industry? 

Demand
An important element to consider is the demand for the services you intend to offer. Research how much demand there is for your offering. Google Trends can be useful for this type of research. 

Market research is a critical tool for business yet often overlooked or underutilized.   Are real customers willing to pay real money for your product or service?  If so you have a real business.  Do not just ask your friends & family for feedback, they do not want to hurt your feelings and will not be objective.  Do market research with real customers.  Whether you conduct qualtitative (focus groups or a listening tour) or quantitative reseach using Zoomerang or Survey Monkey for example does not matter.  Just make sure you ask questions in an objective way so you get real feedback that is useful.   Unless you have expertise in house it makes sense to engage an indepeendent outsider who can help draft the questionaire otherwise it can be garbage in and garbage out wasting time with useless informtion.    Research does not require big budgets but it does need to be objctive to gain real customer insights.

Hi Steve,

Great to see you're doing a survey.

Looking at the questions, I'm struggling to see what you hope to learn. Are you looking to find out what problems people face at a major appliance retailer?

Brian

What makes you think you need to be different from your competitors?No, I'm not trying to be smart. It's a legitimate question. Do your customers or prospects buy based on differentiating factors? Do they value differentiation? If so, to what extent? If not, why are you trying to be different?Reading between the lines of your question, I'm guessing you're trying to find a "USP" for your business. Perhaps you're launching a new product into a highly commoditised market, or perhaps your services are the same as other providers in your industry.In my view, the idea of a traditional marketing USP is misguided, outdated and not based on empirical evidence. People buy the product/service that most easily fulfils their needs/desires, which may not necessarily be the one different from all others.Take a good look at your competitors. Are they in themselves differentiated? Or are they all pretty much the same, with superficial, meaningless distinctions? For example: one is red, another blue. One provides services for industry A, another industry B. Take a good look at their customers. Are they in themselves differentiated? Notwithstanding the nature of the product/service, are they all the same – a cross-section of the market?So why differentiate when being distinctive will do?

In Australia, the ABS has some great stats. Some you have to pay for others not. Their help desk staff are awesome at helping you mine the information you are searching for too.

Industry organizations will generally have good stats around their members too - even if they are not 'formalised' . Sometimes making the call and asking is a great place to start.

Were you looking for something in particular?

I typically review the major players and the industry and look at what they aren't doing well, or aren't doing at all. Those gaps are the best opportunities.

After that, I'll do research into how much a potential revenue / profit is happening within that industry. I'm essentially trying to determine if the gap is a large enough opportunity to pursue for the potential money it could generate.

Once I know that, it is one to researching the major demographics that are interested in those types of products and services. I can help narrow my target users as well as find out what is currently frustrating and delighting them.

I use LinkedIn also. You can check what groups people are following in specific roles and industries. I also subscribe to media alerts and specific industry publications. As an example, in the HR field it is AHRI, and HC Online. If the industry is construction for example, I would use media alerts, regulatory bodies' websites, and Tendering alerts.

There is Seek where you can see what is going on too, industry whitepapers and good old google. Try googling "industry trends" - Deloitte have research stats as does business government websites.

I hope this helps.