One of the challenges of the market research business is that many of those who need your service don’t realize they need it. Or they don’t understand that you’re the place to find it. Large corporations tend to use a lot of research, and they have internal research departments and they speak the jargon. (We would argue that their adeptness at researching their customers and operating environment is part of what helped them to grow large and stay that way.) But many small or even medium-sized organizations are unfamiliar with the full range of benefits market research could provide them.

 How can such organizations know when they could benefit from the services of a market research agency or consultant? On the most basic level, we’d say that any time there’s a question facing a business that does not seem easily answered it’s worth getting in touch with a market research agency. What follows are some common examples of the kinds of questions that lead potential clients to RMS. Maybe some of these are issues your organization faces as well.

• There is a new trend in our industry that I just read about.  How can I find out if that will work here?
• How can I use feasibility research to help with financing for my business plan?
• I need to find out a better way to follow-up with my customers to find out how satisfied they are with my service and staff.  What’s the best way to do this?
• Our market share has been decreasing steadily.  Where are our customers going?
• What are our salespeople really saying to our prospects?
• We are running a new advertising campaign, but we’re not sure whether it is having any impact on our brand equity. How can we find out?
• If our district has to close a school, how will it affect the community?
• We have a lot of prospects that call our business, but ultimately choose to not buy from us.  How can we learn from this and increase our sales?
• I have a new product that is in its concept phase and I need to use a test market.  Where can I go for help with that?
• Would my customers pay more for our product?
• I read a lot of negative reviews about our company online.  How much of an impact do these have on potential customers?

Do any of these questions look like some you’ve been asking about your organization?  Business Development at Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS), Inc., a market research agency in Syracuse, can be reached at 315-635-9802 or by emailing SandyB@RMSresults.com.