4 Steps to Designing a Market Research Study

When setting up a market research project there are four key steps to follow to ensure your study is robust and you get information that is relevant. These are; identifying your business objectives, defining your research objectives, planning your approach, and defining your sample. Once you have followed these steps you are ready to field your study and collect survey data.

Step One - Identify the Objective

Clearly defining the business objective - the reason why you need to carry out the market research, is the most important step in the research process. The business objective (s) clearly defines what questions you want answered, or what business or marketing decision you want to make based on the outcome of the research.

An example of the sorts of business decisions you may need to make based on market research outcomes are:

• How can we improve the satisfaction of our customers?
• Is there any demand for my product idea?
• Is my advertising working?
• What do we need to do to make the ad more appealing, or noticeable to our target market?

Once you have defined your business objectives you can refer back to it throughout the market research process to ensure you stay focused.

Next, find out what information already exists that may answer some or all of the questions. For example, in the case of a satisfaction study, have a chat to your sales staff to see if they have had any feedback from customers that suggest they are unhappy.

Step Two - Defining the Research Objectives

Once you have defined your business objectives you can clearly define the objectives of your research. For example if you want to understand how satisfied your customers are your research objectives may be to understand:

• What drives customer satisfaction?
• What do your customers feel are the most important service factors?
• How well are your performing on these factors?

Step 3 - Plan Your Approach

In planning your approach you need to think about what information you have and what is missing. Do you need to take a qualitative approach or a quantitative approach or both? Sometimes this will depend on the budget and expertise available. If for example you want to understand how satisfied your customers are with the service they have received, you may want to start with a qualitative study among some of your customers to understand factors drive satisfaction, then do a larger quantitative study to find out how well you perform on each of these factors.

Once you have decided on your approach you are ready to develop your quantitative questionnaire, or your qualitative discussion guide which I will show you how to do in future posts.

Step 4 - Define your target sample

When defining your sample you need to think about who your customers or potential customers are. In a satisfaction study you may want to talk to your customers and competitors customers. If you are just starting a new business or launching a new product, you need to think about who you are aiming your product or service at. Specifically, think about:

• How old are they?
• Where do they live?
• What channels do they buy through?

Once you have completed these four steps you are ready to collect your information or field your market research study.

I am a Market Research professional with over 12 years market research experience, in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Australia. My mission is to help small businesses better understand their customers, and their market by providing useful information to help small businesses design and conduct their own robust market research studies.

What Happened to a Call to Action in Advertising?

People like to be asked to do something. The trend seems to "assume" that people will do this or that after you have dazzled you with your creativity. Just give them this great concept along with a huge budget and "Bam" instant increase in sales. If they feel good about you, they will buy, seems to be the mantra.

I'm not saying that having people like your company doesn't help your marketing effort. As a small businessperson your sales are depended on positive relationships for sure. You need to show and prove to the public that your company is someone they want to do business with.

Then you need to politely ask for their business.

The importance of a call to action

When you give the public all the information about your company, tell your story, educate them as to why your product/service is better than your competitor, and show them the value added you then need to give a call to action that will inspire that potential customer to get off the couch, get into the car, drive to your store, and buy.

What is a Call for Action?

Simply put, a call for action is asking for the sale. It's just looking the customer in the eye, whether literally or figuratively, and saying, "May I have your business?" It can be done in many ways and in many forms. It can be said at the end of an advertisement that says, "come on down, and let's do business." Or it can be in the form of a coupon or giveaway that tells the customer that you want their business. It can be as simple as asking, "May I wrap that up for you?" Without it, there's no conclusion to your pitch. It's like saying, "We do this and this, we are better than our competitor, and we have a better price point, have a great day" and turning around and walking away. Doesn't work well does it.

A successful call for action turns no's into yes's

If it is carefully crafted, a good call for action will over come sales resistance. Most people want to say yes, but if they're never asked they never have the opportunity to say yes. By asking you are making them not only make a decision but also think. They will think about all the benefits and information you have shown them about your product/service. They will think about your price and how it compares to your competitors. They will think about how much they enjoy the buying experience you have created for them...then they will say yes. Why, because you have overcome any reason not to say yes and then asked them for the sale. How can they refuse?

Fitness Marketing -0-Cost Marketing Solutions for You

Successful businessmen know that marketing is undoubtedly the lifeblood of any type of business. Regardless if you have the best products or services in the market, it would be basically useless if you can't find customers to serve. So a good businessman will know better not to disregard the matter of advertising as it is essential to achieving success. This holds true if you are operating a fitness centre, health club or gym. In order for any fitness business to do well, it needs to gather as many members as possible. Of course, this can only be possible by using fitness marketing strategies that are done right. There are many ways that will allow you to effectively market your business and it is up to you to choose ones that are best for you.

Technology has provided a great avenue for fitness business owners to advertise their facilities and you will be at a disadvantage if you don't benefit from it. If you own a gym or fitness centre, it is highly recommended that you build a website for it. So you might ask, what if I am just operating locally? Well it doesn't matter if you are operating locally on a larger scale, a website will help your visibility among your potential customers. Besides you can optimise your website so that it will only be relevant through local queries. Most people who are trying to find health clubs usually turn towards the internet when searching for their prospects. Just make sure that your website is well designed and all of your contents are relevant.

In addition to building a website for your fitness marketing efforts, you should also take advantage of the power of social media. Unless you have been living under a rock, you should be well familiar of social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. You can use such websites to market your business. You can create a fan page of your business or you can create a Twitter account and have people follow you. This will require a good deal of effort on your part but the rewards can be rather amazing. Another advantage of using social networks is that it is a zero-cost solution.

Five Tips For Product Managers From The Former Bergdorf Goodman CEO

As product managers we are always looking for someone to tell us how we could be doing our jobs better so that we can look even better on our product manager resume. The problem is that it's all too often hard to find someone who can give us good advice. Is it our boss? Our competition? Somebody that we bump into at a trade show? Or could it be the 90-year old former CEO of the successful Bergdorf Goodman retail chain of stores?

Who is Ira Neimark?

Before you take advice from anyone, you should first make sure that you know who you're talking with. In the case of Ira Neimark, you may not have heard of him, but you should have.

Ira started life out at a high-school drop-out. You might think that that would be the end of his story. However, it's not. Instead, through hard work and just a bit of luck, he rose to become the CEO of the retailer Bergdorf Goodman.

Not only was he a CEO, but he was also a good CEO. It was under his guidance that Bergdorf Goodman transformed itself from a stuffy old department store into what it is today: a young and exciting place to shop. Clearly Ira knows a lot about product development definition

Ira is 90 years old. He knows a lot about what it takes to make a product a success. Clearly, when he speaks we all need to listen.

Ira's 5 Tips For Product Managers

So what tips does Ira have for us product managers. The good news is that based on all of his years of experience, reporter Alexis Swerdloff has been able to take Ira's insights and boil them down into 5 things that we all need to start doing. In the future, these should be a mandatory part of every product manager job description. Here they are:

    First Impressions Count: How's that career progressing product manager? Both within your company and with your product's customers, the first impression that you make is key to your long-term career success. The key here is that you never know when you're going to bump into a customer or your senior management. That means that you always have to be ready and make sure that you get everyone's name correct when you greet them!

    Every Customer Is Looking For Things To Make Their Lives Better: It really doesn't matter how young or old your customers are, and it doesn't matter if we're in boom times or bust. Ira points out that everyone wants to add some excitement to their lives and at the same time make things better for them. Undoubtedly your product does this; however, are you doing a good job of telling your customer how this can happen for them if they buy your product?

    The Clothes Make The Product Manager: Yep, sorry about this one but it's true. As much as we'd all like to be judged by the quality of our product management skills, the truth of the matter is that all too often others judge us by how we look. The good news here is that you control this - take the time to always look sharp and you'll be ready for that next surprise meeting.

    Visit Everyone: Ira makes the point here that unlike some product managers, you really do need to visit everyone. This includes your competitors, their suppliers, etc. You never know what you'll learn from these visits, but it's always going to be useful info.

    Know Your Customers: We have all heard this one; however, Ira adds a wrinkle to it. He believes that we need to know all that we can know about both our current and our potential customers. That's a lot of homework, but it can really pay off in the end.

Three Fast and Easy Marketing Methods When Starting a New Business

If you just started a new business, you may be wondering "What are the most powerful first steps I can take to market your services?" I know it's overwhelming because there are so many exciting marketing opportunities. However, there are three particular methods that you can count on to jumpstart your business and get the traction you need to begin building.

1. Meet new people through networking

In order to find new clients, you want to meet lots of new people! That's where networking comes into play. Do a search online to find the networking groups in your area and look for BNI which is also a referral group. Don't forget about associations as well, which can be a rich source for potential clients. There are also philanthropic groups such as the Lions Club and Rotary Club that work together to help the community or chosen charities.

2. Start speaking to groups

Decide what your signature talk is and then find places to present it. The more groups you can speak to, the more you are seen as an expert in your field. Many of the networking groups, associations and clubs that you visit are looking for speakers. So, while you may visit at first to meet people, your second objective is to ask if they are looking for speakers.

One thing that can help is to write up a one-page document that pitches your signature talk. Come up with a snappy headline, keeping the problem you are solving in mind. Then include a list of benefits attendees gain from hearing what you have to say.

3. Start building your ezine list

Writing and distributing an ezine is a powerful marketing tool for any business. Once you start networking and speaking, it will be easy to build a list of people to market your services to. The ezine becomes your way to:

- Stay in touch

- Keep yourself top-of-mind

- Share tips and advice

- Set yourself up as an expert

- Offer products and services

Weekly or bi-weekly emails work best to get your readers engaged and in the habit of expecting your ezine. As you grow, you can add other emails to announce special offers or events. Shorter emails are more likely to be read. A catchy subject line will be the hardest working piece of the email to get people to open and read it.

Seven Reasons Why You Should Engage in Online Sales Promotion

Imagine yourself putting up an online business. After a seemingly never - ending paper works, meetings with suppliers and putting up a catalogue - like website, you finally opened your business. You keep an eye on your website waiting for customers to browse and buy.

Of course, nothing much will happen! Do you really expect to generate the sales you've been dreaming of just by simply letting your website on its own?

Now, let's liven up your business a bit.

Give away some freebies or come up with some patronage rewards; conduct a raffle or give away some coupons. You will find that your click rates and actual sales will shoot up drastically. Tactics like these are called sales promotion.

Sales promotion activities are one of the vital tools for meeting short term objectives which ultimately brings us closer to our bottom line targets. Here's how:

It encourages trial. A hesitant potential client is more likely to perceive your product or service worthy of trial because they get something more just by trying out the product. This is crucial because people tend to adopt a new product if they are able to try it.

It motivates retrial. Customers have become a bit more wary of trying new products. It is therefore not a surprise if a client does not become a regular customer after the first try. Sales promotion ensures that they do not set aside your offer by bringing to their attention another value they can get by trying the product or service the second time.

It preempts competition. By engaging in sales promotion, potential clients are more likely to be drawn to your market offering first. If you are able to make a strong and good impression, the customers will stick with you and your competitors can no longer expect any switching to happen in their favor.

It can constitute an effective defensive action. Again, sales promotion can serve as your retaliation whenever your competition will let out a marketing campaign. This will somehow hold your client base while thwarting your competitors' efforts.

It reinforces your positioning. For example, if your positioning is being most preferred brand in the market, engaging in sales promotion can actually turn out more customers patronizing your market offering, consequently boosting your claim as No. 1. On the other hand, the market will perceive the brand as trustworthy since the business behind it can afford to implement a sales promotion program.

It encourages more usage. Because of the additional value you are giving away for every purchase, people are more likely to buy often. The common notion is that they will take advantage of the promotional offer while it lasts.

It influences customers to buy more per purchase transaction. This is especially true when the sales promotion involves giving some premiums or freebies as an incentive when customers buy in bulk.

Therefore, sales promotion must not be perceived negatively because it can serve many purposes. In this light, it is safe to say that its benefits far outweigh its cost.

Five Tips to Ensure Qualified Leads

With the current requirements in order to survive in today's business world, a company should not be too relaxed about their current business operations, or even think that their current list of sales leads and customers is agreeable enough to work with. If a company would limit themselves to what they currently have then there is no room for expansion in terms of income and demand generation and brand awareness towards their company would be very limited.

In order to achieve success, companies should expand their targeted business list everyday. In order to achieve this, companies should plan out their marketing strategies in order to garner more qualified sales leads and turn them into qualified sales.

If you own a business, you may want to try to expand your reach in getting to new grounds by trying one or all of these tips to ensure you in getting qualified leads for your business to expand.

1. Recognizing the target's needs
No matter what the business you may own, there is bound to be tons of competition out there. In order to let your sales leads know that your business is the right one to address their needs, you need to know the right way in order to get attention. For example, you may want to print an ad in the newspaper that tells people that you have own a bank that can give out loans. The words "Low Interest Rates!" are more catchy than printing out "Loans are Available."

2. Research and choose the best marketing strategy
Take some time to do a bit if research to ensure company success over generating qualified leads for your business. For a business, it's not limited to just one marketing strategy but there are dozens available for you to choose from. List down available marketing strategies for your business to grow and just cross-out the ones that wouldn't work so well.

3. Create a website
The internet is no joking matter when it comes to attracting sales leads. With millions of people going online everyday, even just those people who check their e-mail for 5 minutes, are possible and might qualify as one of your sales leads. With your website up on the internet, people can browse through it and get basic to advanced information about what you are offering them. Your website can also include your personal contact information, like your e-mail or phone number, so that qualified leads will contact you if they found something of interest within your website.

4. Try tying-up with a another company
Try to look for a company that would best complement to the current business that you have and give them a business proposal to do a tie-up of business. When you do this, your leads would be able to see that you have a wide array of products and services that can increase your sales output and sales lead generation. For example, your bank can tie up with automobile companies and real-estate agencies in order for your bank to give out car and housing loans at an optimum price.

5. Ask questions that hit the target
Once you have already recognized a lead's need, asking the right question would ensure the proper outcome of the transaction. For example, since your bank can give out loans at an optimal price, you can ask your potential leads questions like "Do you want a car but can't afford one right now?" or "Need a house for your new family?" Questions like these are so direct that most of the time they can guarantee a qualified lead to convert into becoming a certified customer for your company.