As part of your company’s plan for a new product launch, you’ve wisely decided to conduct some market research to determine how to position the product’s message to shape the launch’s advertising campaign. As you sit down to write up an RFP for a market research provider, which of the following requirements would you ask of prospective bidders?

  • Make sure they have experience in your industry.
  • Insist that they’ve worked with a tool or methodology (e.g., live focus groups or telephone surveys) which you’re sure would be the best for you to use.

Ask them to identify the demographics and behaviors of your target audience.

Stop. Here’s why we think these requirements don’t allow you to maximize your investment and how you can change your thinking to really leverage those research dollars.

A category expert doesn’t always indicate the most research expertise. We frequently see this especially for organizations with a highly-technical focus – a water filtration company, for example, may demand that the researcher have experience conducting surveys about both charcoal and ceramic filters.  This requirement overlooks the experience and lessons that a researcher may learned through diverse experience in a wide variety of industries.    

How to maximize your investment: Choose a researcher who can demonstrate how they’ve approached similar issues, and how they’ll apply previous experiences and solutions to the unique needs of your research objective.

You may choose a hammer when you need a screwdriver. If you determine ahead of time that a certain methodology is the best way to go, you are short-changing yourself of harnessing the most value out of the researcher’s expertise.  This is especially true if you’re not even considering some of the new cutting-edge techniques that any research agency worth their weight should at least have some level of familiarization. 

How to maximize your investment: Ask the researcher to recommend the best methods to approach the research project. Even better: Ask the researcher to identify some methods they considered, but ultimately did not recommend and why.

You know your market, or at least some information about it. Requiring bidders to hypothesize the characteristics of your ideal buyer is like asking someone to order food without showing them the menu. 

How to maximize your investment: You have first-hand knowledge of who your target market is; by being as specific as possible in terms of purchasing dynamics and demographic specifications in the RFP, you can make sure the researcher gets you the most accurate bid for your project, minimizing surprises down the road.  

There are other variables that will most certainly impact the quality of the research project and the data it generates.  But by providing prospective bidders with solid customer specifications, asking them to recommend the best research methodology for reaching your target market, and insuring they can demonstrate how they’ve solved similar research puzzles in the past, you’ll put yourself one step closer to making a good investment a great one.

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By: Joy Levin, an AMA Baltimore board member.
Joy is the owner and president of Allium Research and Analytics (www.alliumresearch.com), a company which has worked with organizations to gain new and retain existing customers. By successfully leveraging international experience in many industries, combined with cutting-edge research methodologies, Allium Research and Analytics uniquely improves the value of marketing solutions, while delivering customer insights that build the foundation for future company success.

Ms. Levin received her BA from Brandeis University and her MBA from Boston University.   She currently serves on the board of the Baltimore chapter of the American Marketing Association and is a member of the Baltimore-Washington Chamber of Commerce.