Market research, in your
buyers’ own words.
Interviews with your clients and the ones you lost, surveys of the wider market and competitor analysis, before the money is spent.
The clients who chose you, and the ones who went elsewhere, know things about your business that are hard to see from the inside. We ask them. Then we survey the wider market, study the competition and put what we found in front of the people making the decision.
Market Research is one of six Innovation services, engaged on its own or as part of the Innovation Hub’s Identify stage. Research is planned and reported from our Norwich office, for businesses across Norfolk and the rest of the UK.
The clients you lost, asked why.
Your current clients can tell you why they stayed. The prospects who chose someone else, or went quiet after the proposal, can tell you what to change. We hold customer interviews with both, on your behalf, and ask each group the same questions.
People speak more freely to someone outside the business. Every interview is written up in the buyer’s own words, and the themes are drawn from what was said, not from what anyone expected to hear.
What the research covers.
The question decides the method. The proposal names the methods, who is asked, how many, and the date the findings are presented.
Client interviews
One-to-one conversations with your current clients: why they chose you, what nearly stopped them and what would make them buy more.
Lost client interviews
Prospects who chose someone else or went quiet after a proposal, asked what decided it.
Surveys
Questions put online to a wider sample of buyers in your market, to measure how widely a view is held.
Competitor analysis
What the businesses you compete with offer, charge where it is published, and say about themselves, and where none of them is meeting the need.
Trends and emerging demand
What buyers are starting to search for and ask about, drawn from search data, industry sources and the interviews themselves.
Market sizing
How many potential buyers there are in a market you are considering and what they could be worth, with every source shown.
Participant data
Collected for the research and nothing else, kept no longer than the project needs, and quoted without names unless the person agrees.
The report
Written for your leadership team: what we found, in the buyers’ own words, and what we would do about it, presented in person.
Six weeks, question to answer.
A typical project, from the first meeting to the presentation. A larger survey adds time, and the proposal states how much.
Tell us where you’re goingFrame.
Week one.
We agree the decision the research has to inform, who to speak to and how many, and write the interview guide and the survey with you.
You approve the questions and the list of who is contacted.
Ask.
Weeks two to five.
Interviews are booked and held, the survey goes out, and the competitor review runs alongside.
You hear each week who has taken part so far.
Analyse.
As the answers come in.
Each interview is written up while it is fresh, themes are drawn from what was said, and the survey results are checked against them.
A theme is only reported if the evidence supports it.
Present.
Week six.
The written report is presented to your leadership team: what we found, what it means for the business and what we would do next.
Where it points to a new service, Propositions & Viability is the next step.
Market Research, in practice.
All Projects
Questions about Market Research.
What do your market research services include?
Interviews with your clients and the prospects you lost, surveys of the wider market, competitor analysis, trends and market sizing, ending in a written report presented to your leadership team. The proposal sets out which methods your question needs.
Who do you speak to?
Your current clients, the prospects who went elsewhere, and buyers in your market who may never have heard of you. The mix depends on the decision the research is there to inform.
How many interviews are enough?
Enough that the same themes keep coming back. Studies of interview research suggest that often happens within about a dozen conversations with one group of buyers. Surveys need larger samples, and the plan states the number and the reason for it.
Will our clients mind being contacted?
We contact them on your behalf, say who we are and why we are asking, and keep each interview to an agreed length. Taking part is their choice, and anyone who declines is not asked again.
Can the interviews be used to win back lost clients?
No. An interview that turns into a sales pitch is no longer research. The ICO treats a research call with promotional content as direct marketing, and the Market Research Society’s standards require the two to be kept clearly apart. If a lost client asks to hear from you again, we pass that on with their permission.
Are the answers anonymous?
Interviewees choose. Quotes appear without names unless the person agrees otherwise, and where anonymity was promised, you see the themes rather than who said what.
Do you carry out B2B market research?
Yes. Business buyers, from owners to the people who sign off a purchase, are harder to reach than consumers, so interviews are booked around their diaries and kept to an agreed length.
Can you research a market we are not in yet?
Yes. Market sizing, competitor analysis and a survey of buyers in that market show whether it is worth entering before you commit to it. Where the answer is yes, a feasibility study tests what you would sell there.
How is it priced?
Every engagement has a defined scope and a stated fee, agreed in writing before any work begins. Tell us where you’re going and we’ll tell you what it would involve.
Alongside Market Research.
All of InnovationReady to talk about your next stage of growth?
Tell us where you’re going. We’ll tell you, candidly, whether we’re the right agency to take you there.
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