MarketResearchCareers November Newsletter: 2010 Planning

It's never too early to start the planning process for the coming year -- particularly with the economic challenges of 2009. To assist in the process, we wanted to share some key information that is only available from MarketResearchCareers.

How Satisfied Are Your Customers?
It's difficult to build a roadmap for the future if you don't know where you currently stand -- particularly with your customers. To help shape the development of your 2010 strategic plan, it may be helpful to begin by understanding your customers and how much they appreciate or value your services.

Below is the average overall customer satisfaction score (using a 5 point Likert Scale with 5 being Extremely Satisfied and 1 being Not At All Satisfied) by market research segment.

Segment	Overall Customer Satisfaction Score [1]
Full Service	4.1
Syndicated	4.2
Online Sample	3.9
Online Survey Software	3.9

A brief customer satisfaction survey will help you benchmark your organization and enable you to identify opportunities to win more business -- either from existing clients or from new ones.

 

To further assist market research professionals, please feel free to use our new service. Free research downloads!

%contentsyndication%

Who Are Your Competitors--Really?
No business operates in a vacuum. If you win a proposal, odds are that another firm received some bad news. Not only is it important to understand what your customers think, it's vital that you understand the competitive landscape.

The tables below reveal the percent of customers using a specific market research supplier [1]. This information can help you understand who you should be chasing -- and who is chasing you.

 

What New Topics Do Marketers Want to Understand?
As the online environment continues to shape commercial and social behaviors, its impact is also being felt within the market research industry.

Not only does the Internet change what we are asked to measure, it also continues to change the methods we use to serve our clients. Today in the United States, the use of online surveys dominates telephone, mail, and in-person methods.

As indicated below [2], MR professionals are increasingly being asked to research the online environment to quantify the impact upon their clients' business.

When developing your 2010 plan, it's vital that you consider the impact of the online environment upon your customers' business. This is likely to have a direct impact upon the amount of research they conduct.

How Much Did Companies Spend on Market Research?
Overall, demand for market research services fell sharply during 2009. Measured in dollars, demand was down by 12.4% during the first half of 2009 with little visible improvement during the second half [1].

When developing your strategic plan, you should carefully consider the industries you serve as there is significant MR spending variations by sectors. You should use this information to anticipate or forecast 2010 sales levels -- which will likely drive your entire 2010 budget.

Recall, not all depressed industries will rebound and not all stable or growing industries will continue their positive trajectory. It is best to identify your individual assumptions for each market (or large customer) you serve -- aggregating to develop your company's 2010 sales outlook.

 

Should I Promote My Business in 2010?
Market research organizations have historically conducted little or no active outbound marketing activities -- including direct marketing, public relations, webinars, and the like.

With a new year upon us, it may be financially essential that your organization review and enhance its visibility in the marketplace -- starting with your website, search engine ranking, and ability to regularly communicate with your customers. As we have learned at MarketResearchCareers, these activities can pay enormous dividends. If helpful, we would be delighted to recommend qualified professionals to assist your firm.

 

We Can Help
MarketResearchCareers can help fine tune your 2010 top line/budget estimates in early January via your participation within the 2010 Annual Survey of Market Research Professionals. Our sixth edition will continue to provide unparalleled insights into the market research industry -- from anticipated spending levels to staffing trends to adoption of new research methodologies.

We continue to offer the following two reports to help with your 2010 planning.

[1] 2009 Market Research Supplier Report Card and Mid-Year Industry Update conducted in July, 2009; N=801; 50 page written report]

[2] 2009 Annual Survey of Market Research Professionals conducted in January, 2009; N=612; 58 page written report]

 

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