I’ve had clients who wouldn’t spend money on basic customer research. That’s like trying to plan a driving trip from Denver to New York and being too cheap to buy a road map. You wouldn’t even know in which direction to start off.

My first introduction to market research was shortly after college when I joined the marketing department of a member-supported research foundation, whose purpose was to help companies in the printing industry do their jobs better.

I worked for a crusty old marketing boss who would dictate what programs and services the foundation offered to its members.  Being a brash young upstart, I asked him one day, “How do we know this is what our members want and need.”  He looked at me, pointed his index finger to his temple, tapped it several times, and said, “Intuitive marketing.”  To which I replied, “So we’re just guessing.”

Needless to say, I didn’t work there much longer.

Years later, I was sitting around a conference table in Atlanta with a bunch of association executives from the hardwood industry, who were looking for ways to get builders of custom homes to specify more North American hardwoods.  I asked them what builders needed to specify the product.  They collectively answered that builders needed glossy pictures of hardwood installations to show to prospective homebuyers.  I asked them how they knew that.

Suddenly I had a déjà vu experience when one of the old-timers starting tapping his temple and saying, “We’ve been in this industry a long time.  We know what they need.”

So I asked if we might conduct a research project “just to confirm” their position.

After interviewing 400 builders across the country, we learned that the single-most deterrent to specifying North American hardwoods was the high cost of scrap.  If a worker miss-cut a piece of hardwood, or a finisher botched the paint or stain job, they were left with mighty expensive scrap.  Hence they tended to specify less costly soft woods, like pine.

What we also learned was that builders wanted technical information on installing hardwoods and finishing them on site.

That one piece of information directed the hardwood marketing program for several years through a series of technical publications called Tips & Techniques:  For builders and architects working with North American hardwood millwork, flooring and cabinetry.

The value of good market research may be that it confirms what you already know about how your customers or potential customers relate to your products or services.  Or, it just might turn up that one unexpected idea that can reshape your whole marketing approach.  Either way, it tells you if you’re on track or not.

Expensive research projects still have their place.  But inexpensive research can easily be conducted today through internet software such as Survey Monkey or Constant Contact.

Successful marketing is when you know what your customers want and need, and then develop or tailor products and services to meet those customer needs.  Market research provides the road map.

Add to the blog and share some unexpected insight you learned from your market research.

–Ralph Yearick