5 Tips to Help MR Professionals Survive Challenging Economic Times
Today's economic events are unprecedented. Below are five tips to help MR professionals prepare and weather the storm. This is the focus of MarketResearchCareers' March 2008 Newsletter.

Tip 1: Put in the Hours
With the economic slowdown, every manager wants to ensure they are receiving maximum value for their dollar. Given those with the lowest perceived production levels are more likely to be relieved of their position first, we suggest that you arrive at the office or be online before your manager.

During the day, you should make every effort not to "disappear," letting your manager and colleagues know your whereabouts when attending internal meetings, visiting with clients, or participating in conference calls.

At the end of the day, be sure all of your work is complete prior to departing. Studies have shown it is more important to arrive early than to work late.

And if you have the opportunity, you should check your email and voicemail during the evening to be responsive to any last minute or urgent requests. A few minutes in the evening can make an enormous difference to those who may ultimately be responsible for determining the composition of your team, department, or company as the economic situation changes.

Tip 2: Re-engage Your Customers
Within the market research world, we often become internally focused as we strive to meet the needs of our respective clients -- overseeing fieldwork, analyzing data, or writing reports. However now more than ever it's critical to make time to build or strengthen relationships with your clients -- whether they are internal or external.

Meeting informally over coffee or lunch can provide valuable feedback enabling you to meet even your client's unstated needs. Importantly, periodic conversations provide an opportunity to build a personal relationship with your client -- helping to develop trust, professional respect, and support.

These attributes may become vitally important should the contribution of the department or individual MR professionals need to be evaluated in the context of changing economic conditions.

Tip 3: Explore and Share a New MR Technique
The universe of market research tools and techniques is quite diverse -- from:

• Qualitative to quantitative
• Offline to online 
• Evaluating concepts to measuring customer satisfaction
• Numerous other dimensions

No organization uses the complete set of MR tools available to them. In fact, many MR departments use methodologies and techniques from years past despite a known set of limitations or shortcomings.

Now is the ideal time to review alternative or complementary techniques to address known issues or to gain the benefits offered by new MR approaches.

And if you encounter a new approach, share it with your manager and colleagues. Your review could generate new insights for your client or be the solution your MR department has been seeking -- enhancing quality, speeding delivery, or saving money (and possibly all three).

Tip 4: Manage Your Budget Wisely
It goes without saying, effectively managing your budget is an imperative in today's environment. However, managing your budget does not require you to drastically reduce or eliminate all spending as this may inhibit your ability to meet defined objectives.

As a rule of thumb, you should try to manage expenses 10% below those stated within your budget. This provides capacity should additional tasks be required, and it also prevents your manager from sensing your initial budget was inflated. Evaluating new partners or re-negotiating with existing vendors can be an effective way to stretch the budget. And, of course, let's all learn from the automobile executives who flew to Washington, D.C. on private planes. Eliminate any item that could be construed as lavish, excessive, or even potentially inappropriate.

Importantly, you should verify your budget at the beginning of each quarter to ensure your expectations are in alignment with current conditions.

And you should staff your department and teams according to agreed upon headcounts -- replacing departures quickly and hiring per the agreed upon schedule. Vacant positions can raise doubt and be quickly eliminated -- overworking the existing team and raising questions about your ability to staff a team as the available labor force grows.

Tip 5: Communicate Your Work
This may, in fact, be the most important tip. Communicate your activities to your manager so they understand your workload, challenges, and successes.

You may share this information informally with your manager, during regular staff meetings, or through a monthly written status report. However you choose, be sure your updates are accurate, complete, and do not disparage others to paint you in a more favorable light. If in doubt, provide your updates considering how your colleagues would react if they were to hear your update from another.

The best approach is full and honest disclosure -- enabling your manager to see your commitment, hard work, and the contributions you make to the department, company, and your clients.

 

Mike Carroll
800-872-5401
mcarroll@marketresearchcareers.com
www.marketresearchcareers.com