My initial answer to this question would be for you to consider WHY you are conducting the research in the first place. If you go into a research project with a set of assumptions and the hope that the project will prove those assumptions, then you are likely to be disappointed!
Obviously no-one likes to hear criticism about their business – to be told that their amazing idea doesn’t have legs, or that their product isn’t as well received as they thought, or that there is a problem with customer service process.
BUT – the whole point of market research is to gain insight, to find out something you don’t already know, to discover, to learn. If you want to manipulate the questions and therefore the answers in order to prove a point, then you might as well go the full hog and make up the results too.
SOMETIMES MARKET RESEARCH WILL THROW UP THINGS THAT YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR.
- Like the time I worked on an ad testing project and the research showed that no-one understood the concept.
- Or the time that an employee engagement project revealed that one particular area of the business was struggling because of a disruptive manager.
- Or the time when a start-up asked me to investigate why their new product wasn’t as well perceived as they had hoped, and the findings of the research project revealed that they had missed the mark in terms of their target audience.
BY ASKING YOUR CUSTOMERS, YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE, YOUR EMPLOYEES WHAT THEY REALLY THINK WILL GIVE YOU ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS THAT WILL HELP YOU TO IMPROVE AND BETTER SERVE THEIR NEEDS.
From the examples above
- Ok the concept bombed, but the research enabled them to work out WHY, and to make amends so that the next version was a success.
- The insight gained from employee engagement project, enabled senior leaders to review their processes and to offer additional support to managers.
- The start-up were able to make a few tweaks to their marketing which then resulted in an expectation exceeding launch.
A professional market researcher will be impartial and objective, will present back the good and the bad, enabling you to gain maximum insight. Wouldn’t you rather know that you had a problem, so you can address it?
Get in touch to find out how market research can help you make better business decisions.
