The Landmark Blog

My Holiday Wishes for Market Research Companies in 2010

Every one of us wants something more for our companies in some way.  Whether you are on a market research account team that is "in the trenches" creating, conducting, and analyzing the market research data, or in a telephone center somewhere in the world managing interviewers or collecting the data yourself, or whether you are the leader of a market research company or a market research group trying to control costs, provide vision and lead your organization, my hope is that you are constantly looking for a more efficient and effective way to conduct your daily business and complete your daily tasks.  Each of us, regardless of the role we provide, should be constantly looking for ways to grow, expand, adapt, and evolve the company we belong to.  Market Research, especially in the last couple of years, has been a fast changing, quickly evolving industry that has really required some significant attention to "stay relevant".  If you didn't realize this, take a look around and see what's changing in the market research methods, budgets, platforms, etc. being used and developed, and evaluate how it's impacting your business.  Here are five "holiday wishes" for those of us participating in the market research industry.  I hope...   

• That our market research products & services will be relevant and successful in 2010.  We all work very hard...and try to work very smart...to evolve and keep up with the ongoing change in our industry.  Many of us launch new products, or develop new services with some regularity.  Here's to relevance & success of these products in 2010!

• That we will maintain a constant attention to the quality of the research that we conduct and the services we provide.  Quality is king.  Without a quality product, our importance and "seat at the table" will be questioned.  Whether your primary research method is qualitative, quantitative, multi-modal, online, phone, IVR, MROC's, focus groups, ethnographies, IDI's, etc.  A constant attention needs to be placed on delivering results that are representative, accurate, clean, and address the research questions that need to be answered.  Our industry depends on a "seat at the table" and it is up to each of us to see that this happens. 
  

• That each of us will find a way to conduct the market research more quickly without sacrificing the quality...or the ability to make the company money in the process (working yourself right out of business).  It's sad but true, that we've seen many of our business associates and business organizations work themselves right out of employment.  Market research companies need to find ways to conduct quality research, quickly, but at the same time make money doing it.  It's a plain statement that "Businesses exist to make money."  Finding a balance between quality, faster, cheaper is possible, but takes attention to the methods used and processes developed.  As market research companies, we must serve these three masters, but we must also make money doing it...or we work ourselves right out of business.    

• That the three previous "wishes" will be completed without "running" our market research staff "into the ground" in the process.  Each of our organizations spends years developing experienced market research staff who are excellent at the work that they do, who bring insights and creativity to the table, and who can deliver on the market research needs and our customer's expectations.  We must understand the needs of our clients AND the needs of our staff.  It's important that our staff have personal lives outside of work...helping them find the balance between work and their personal lives is important.  We can't take them for granted...at the same time, we MUST exceed our clients needs.  It is a difficult line to walk.
  

• That we will see an end to "The Great Recession".  I heard a term while driving into work this morning.  A doctor was on the radio and he mentioned, what he titled, an epidemic of "Recession Depression".  The stress on most employees, organizations, departments, etc. has been uncharacteristically high this year.  Until we see an end to "The Great Recession" watch your staff for "Recession Depression," acknowledge their efforts in a tough year, identify employees who have worked hard and seen some success, and thank your employees for their hard work.  Many times, all they need is to simply be acknowledged in some way.  
  

Best wishes for 2010 and beyond.  Here's to an excellent year for us all!