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The Competitive Advantage

tag: competitive advantage

July 25, 2012

Does YOUR Business Need a Focus Group?

As researchers, you help your clients get feedback and insight on a variety of things – concept development, advertising, product usage and so forth.

But do you do that for yourself, too?  Do you get unbiased feedback on new services you’re thinking about launching, marketing ideas or tough business decisions?

If not, here’s an idea… consider establishing an ‘Advisory Board,’ an outside third-party group that can provide input on a variety of critical decisions.

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July 18, 2012

Exhibiting at a conference this fall? Get your event marketing plan in place!

You’ve committed thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of dollars and several days of several people’s time to exhibit at a conference this fall.  The worst thing you can do is just show up and hope it goes well.  As the popular business book is titled, “Hope is not a strategy!”

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July 5, 2012

Hiring your first sales rep? Consider these 7 “must-dos” first…

If you’re about to hire your firm’s first sales rep, then let me congratulate you on taking a very big – and vitally important – step for your firm.  Having someone other than the principal(s) of the firm do your selling is an important and often scary thing to do.  You’re letting go and relying on “an outsider” to help make you successful.  But until you do, you’ll never be able to realize your firm’s full potential.

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June 27, 2012

Dramatically Improve your Marketing with A-B Testing… it’s Easy and Free!

There’s an old saying that I really like… “That which is easy to do is also easy not to do!”  Evidently, that sentiment applies to A-B testing in marketing, because almost no one does it.

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June 21, 2012

If You’ve Got it, Flaunt it… using Case Studies

Do you do good work?  Have some completed successful projects?  Have you helped your clients find insights in new and unique ways?

No doubt, you have.  But are you using those success stories to help build your brand and enhance your credibility?  If not, you should be… through the use of Case Studies.

A Case Study is a fact-based, somewhat ‘clinical’ way to tell a success story.  In fact, it’s a “proof source.”  And it’s because of this approach that Case Studies have a high level of acceptance in our industry.  Do great work… tell the facts of the project… improve the perception of your firm.

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June 18, 2012

Do you KPI? 3 Steps for Enhancing your Marketing & Sales Measurement.

One of the great business truisms of all time… “You can’t manage what you don’t measure!”

If you haven’t defined the most important marketing & sales KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for your firm and monitored them consistently, here are 3 simple steps for getting started.

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June 14, 2012

Want to know the REAL Story about your Firm? Here’s how…

We all want the research firms that employ us to be the best they can be… to provide top-notch service, use the most current methodologies and deliver the deepest insights for our clients.  So, how do we get there?

For many of us, we start with post-project client satisfaction surveys of some kind… for that immediate feedback on the work we just completed.  And you should continue to do that.  It’s good and valuable information – from clients who LIKE you.

Where you have an even bigger opportunity to learn is from those clients who DON’T like you… your ex-clients – those firms who used to bring their projects to you, but who, for whatever reason, no longer do business with you.  These firms can be an amazing source of insight about your firm, its services and much more.

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June 11, 2012

Enhance your Marketing & Sales Message for a Competitive Advantage

Good morning class… Here’s an exercise that will help you more effectively communicate with prospective clients and why they should do business with your firm.

When we write (email or proposal) or deliver presentations, we’re all pretty good at espousing what we do – call it the features of our firm.  For example:

  • “We are a full-service shop.”
  • “We have a large team of experienced analysts on staff.”
  • “We are qualitative research specialists.”
  • “We have 20 years of experience in the automotive industry.”
  • “We do product testing, market segmentation, focus group moderating, blah, blah, blah…”
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