Market research is a valuable tool. But a lack of it is NOT keeping you from getting paid what you deserve. In fact, if a client comes to me wanting to start with a big quantitative study, I refer them to other consultants. I’m certainly capable, but I find it overkill. Here is why:
You haven’t utilized the incredible amount of knowledge inside your building.
Sales and marketing understand your buyers very well, and your product teams also do. What they haven’t done is organize and structure that information to enable you to make powerful decisions. They are missing the frameworks of how buyers value products.
With some probing questions and several iterations, committees of market-centric people can define relatively accurate views on what matters to customers, what they value, and how to use that to make much better business decisions.
After they have done the hard work of understanding value, quantitative research can be used to test assumptions and validate priorities. But without prior work, market research often misses what’s important. After all, quantitative research can only test what’s put in the questions.
In almost every case, my clients work with me to define value only using knowledge inside the company. They are then confident enough in what we create to make decisions about pricing models, packaging, market segmentation, and even sales processes.
Applying the right frameworks to your existing knowledge is the quick and less expensive win. If you need help doing this in your organization, contact me at [email protected].
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