This blog post was written by Erin Wisneski, Communication Coordinator at Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS), a feasibility study firm in Syracuse, NY. It was also featured in the Fall edition of RMS News.

Background: Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) was engaged to conduct a feasibility study and needs assessment for a client looking to expand its services. The client commissioned the research to identify other regions within the state that are currently under-served, assess the competition within the market places and measure demand (opportunity) for the client’s services.

Methodology: To obtain the research necessary, RMS conducted the following research methodologies:

  • Component 1— Demographic Profiling and Analysis: this component involved profiling demographics, estimated market size and potential of the predetermined regions that would serve as a natural extension to the client’s current markets; these regions would also define the scope of work for Components 2 and 3.
  • Component 2 – Competitive Assessment: this component involved in-depth analysis of major competitors with physical office presences in one of the predetermined markets from Component 1. Analysis included a profile of each direct competitor, mystery shopping calls and emails to test competitor customer experiences and inventorying marketing materials.
  • Component 3 – B2C Telephone Survey: this component involved 600 complete calls placed to households evenly dispersed among the regions. The focus of this component was to test the awareness of services, collect satisfaction ratings on users of the competition, test the importance of a physical office location and gather demographics on a typical customer receiving the client services.

feasibility study firm

Results: RMS deemed there was an opportunity for expansion in the regions where research was conducted, and prioritized those regions from the most to least appealing, which was dictated by research findings. RMS was also able to determine that there were certain variables that would increase the success of expansions into the regions such as on-site bricks and mortar locations and focused television advertising.