Never too small for researchGetting the most out of your research, and your budget

Neil Stollznow (QPMR)

Director, Stollznow Research

National Secretary, AMSRS

How to use market research in a SME environment

The basics

Qualitative

Focus groups / group

discussions

In-depth interviewing

Characteristics

Unstructured

Not representative

Quantitative

Telephone interviewing

Intercept interviewing

Online interviewing

Door to door

Characteristics

Highly structured

Projectable

Sampling

Questions

When to use each approach

Qualitative

How do people feel

What do they think

What is their reaction to an

idea

Why do they behave this

way

Quantitative

How many people feel this

way

How many think this way

What is the size of the

market for a new idea

Before you begin…

Define the issues

Why you need to do research

How will this information be used

What do you need to know

versus what is ‘nice to know’

What information do you

already have

What happens if I do

nothing?

Before you begin…

How well do I really

know my market?

Age, income, occupation

who purchase

who don’t purchase

where do they live…

Beware “We know our

customers/clients”

Friends don’t tell you the

bad things

The brief

Background to the project

Business objectives you want to

achieve

Many people just state questions

Researchers can help you define objectives

Timeframe

Budget

No requirement to specify

methodology

Meet with the researchers

Make sure they have your outlook

Make sure they match your business

What sort of budget do I need?

How important is the issue? What will it cost if we get it wrong?

Qualitative Focus groups $4,000 to $6,000

Costs affected by: Recruitment – easy / difficult

Where the respondents are

Quantitative Start @ $60 per interview (telephone)

Economies of scale as sample

increases

Specialist techniques will cost more

Tips for the perfect qualitative project

Fish where the fish are

Have realistic expectations

about what people can tell

you

Don’t be proscriptive

Participants must feel free to

digress, argue and be involved

Leave you with insight into

Motivation

Thoughts

Perceptions

Tips for the perfect quantitative project

Based on real understanding of

the population Ask questions people can answer

Know the meaning of questions you’re asking

Must have good sampling Random in population

Sample size must be robust Confidence level

Analysis of sub-groups

Quality fieldwork If it’s not right at this stage it won’t improve!

Quality analysis The right tools for the job

What about the web

Ideal for B2B

Existing customers

General population where

income plays no role

Issues 52% of Australian households

have internet (ABS 2003)

About 60% now

Not equally distributed

Older less likely to use

Lower income much less likely

to use

The way of the future

Use your existing data

You have data!

Data collection is the

main cost of research

Simple analysis is

often overlooked

Postcodes, spend, frequency

You may have the resources

internally

Many consultancies can

analyse data

Use your existing data

Complex analysis

requires a specialist

Loyalty programs

Customer tracking

Conducting internal research programs

Any knowledge is better

than no knowledge!

A standard approach

Identify key information

requirements

Systematically collect data

Analyse the data

Use existing business

activities

Use your CRM program

Use your telesales information

Things to remember

Qualitative

It is what it is

Avoid jumping through hoops

Projective techniques

Extensive observation

Extended groups (3 hours)

‘Homework’

Quantitative

Doesn’t always need to be

complex

If cross tabulations are all that’s

needed, that’s fine

Ethics and quality

Look for quality in

suppliers as you do in

your business

Ethics mean people will

speak to researchers

Australian Market &

Social Research Society

(AMSRS)

AMSRS Code of Professional

Behaviour

Qualified Practising Market

Researcher (QPMR)

Association of Market

Research

Organisations (AMRO)

Interviewer Quality

Control Australia

(IQCA)

Australian Standard

4752

Market research & telemarketing

Must distinguish

between the two

activities

Telemarketing sells

The individual is the focus

Market research gathers

information

The individual is irrelevant

to the project

Participants must

understand which

process they are

involved in

Ethical behaviour

Required by the Privacy Act

Participants must

understand what their

information will be used for

Impact of the Privacy Act on market research

More about databases than

privacy

National Privacy Principles

(NPPs)

Market and Social Research

Privacy Code allows Collecting name and contact details

Making recordings of research

Using customer lists

Registering individuals on a customer

database

Conducting fieldwork checks

Contacting respondents for follow up

research

Case studies

Inner-city hotel

Upgrade worth $½ million

Expanding restaurant

Opening up former restaurant area

to customers

Who to cater for?

What kind of food?

What kind of ambience?

Who lives in the area?

Two-stage research program

Quantitative

233 interviews

Simple demographics

Age

Household makeup (share,

family, couple etc)

Household income

Use of local hotels

Opinion of local hotels

Like to participate in group

discussions?

Two-stage research program

Qualitative

3 group discussions

Identified competitive set

Identify strengths and weakness

of each hotel

What is missing in the area In food

In recreation

What should hotel food be?

Menu evaluation

Wine evaluation

Role of promotions

Role of entertainment

Outcomes

Understand local

market-place

Demographics

Competition

Strengths

Weaknesses

Unique selling proposition (USP)

Know how to develop

profitably

Things to do at the

hotel

…and things to avoid

How to use every

dollar in renovations

and subsequent

promotion to generate

income

Cost $13,000 + GST

The British Council

Who is the British

Council?

Cultural representatives

Limited budget

Primary means of

communication is

through website(s)

Upgrading key site

Essential for operation

Information requirements

Research needed to

consider

Branding on site

Detail of the information on

site

Technical aspects

Interactivity

Ease of navigation

Content

Relevance

Information needs

Strengths and weaknesses

Retained information

Qualitative research

3 group discussions

Completed with 3 key

stakeholder groups

Evaluated a draft-

version of the website

Participants took turns

to navigate through

the site while it was

discussed

Research outcomes

Significant

modifications made to

site

Specific direction on

Links

Quotes

Graphics

Content

Summary of each page

Important to ‘get it

right’ first time when

there is limited budget

Cost of project was

$12,000 + GST

“Internet start-up”

Can’t name

Signed confidentiality

agreement

Needed to know

Market size

Likely market reaction to

product

Quantitative research

Simple telephone

interviewing

Interviews last 5 minutes

Asked about

Scope of operations

Size and number of activities

Size and number of events

Existing sales activities

Likely uptake of offer

Research outcome

Small fractured market

Large clients ‘signed up’ to

alternatives

‘Rats and mice’ left

Limited potential

Idea killed

Cost of project was $10,000

+ GST

Much less than would have been

wasted on a idea that did not work

What have we learnt?

Key learning

Know what you want

to achieve before you

start

Find a company in

tune with your

business

Prepare a brief

Not as hard as it might seem

Research does not

require large budgets

When to use

Qualitative research

Quantitative research

Telephone interviewing

Web research

Don’t be afraid to

complete simple

research yourself

The importance of

standards and quality

in consulting

A simple checklist…

To test if you’re on the

right track..

Do you have the right sample /

population?

Do the research outcomes fit

into your business plans?

Is the methodology the right

way to go? Don’t be bamboozled

Methodology

Process

Do you have realistic goals

Outcome

Time-frame

Do you understand the

deliverables?

Contact details

Neil Stollznow

PO Box 16

Level 2/156 Military Rd

Neutral Bay NSW 2089

T +61 2 9953 7543

F +61 2 9953 7563

M +61 412 200 235

neil@stollznow.com.au

www.stollznow.com.au