Retail Doctor Market Research
02/03/09
In the second of our 12 part guide to getting the most out of your retail business, Gareth Parton, head of sales at Swish Window and Door Systems, explains why where it pays to talk.
‘That tackle was never a sending off’, ‘celebrity X has lost god knows how many lbs since checking out of the Betty Ford Clinic’ – we all love to give opinions, it’s in our nature. And the relevance of poor referee decision-making and the latest ‘star’ meltdown to a column on market research?
Well the point I’m trying to make is that we’re all predisposed to give opinions, whether that’s windows or yo-yoing celebrity weight loss or gain. Effective market research is about capturing opinion, finding out what people believe, want and need and using that information to inform your business activity.
And the best thing about market research is that it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Kick focus groups and psychological profiling into touch - that’s the stuff of corporate boardrooms – instead start talking to your customers. Market research shouldn’t be an academic exercise - it should inform and as a consequence, influence your business. It can even deliver direct savings.
I was recently talking to a customer about his marketing activity. He was reviewing his operation and started with one of the most fundamental questions of market research: ‘how do my customers find me?’
This was of particular importance given his existing marketing spend which included £20,000 per annum to advertise in the Yellow Pages. Over a six week period he and his team recorded the origin of every call and lead whether directory listing, advertising, press, flyer or website.
The results were enlightening. He had been convinced that 80 out of every hundred leads he received had been generated through directory listings, his research showed that in reality that it was nearer 20 and that advertising in the local media and his website were far more effective and lower cost.
Websites are worth a specific mention here. Search engines can give you detailed information on where your customers are coming from, which sites or adverts they are connecting from and what the pages they are visiting on your site [I intend to explore this in more detail later in the series].
Understanding how your products and services are seen by customers is clearly as fundamental to managing your relationship with them as it is to know where your customers are coming from.
Market research can inform your business activity for example what is selling well, what will sell well and what won’t sell well for much longer? How do your customers or prospects see your business? Equally importantly, why do people decide not to buy from you?
And again its talking to people and gauging their opinion that will deliver results. There are lots of tools that you can use to do this, telephone, website or face to face – the trick with all of them is to keep it short and simple, too many questions will switch people off. For example if you’re creating a customer feedback survey, limit it to just a few questions: were they happy with your service? What could be improved? Would they recommend you?
Information from those people who don’t opt to buy from you can be equally valuable. If you quote on a hundred jobs, win 60 and miss out on another 40, politely follow-up those you missed out on. What tipped the balance in favour of your competitor? What should or could you have done differently?
People like to give opinions, it makes them feel validated, that they count and that they are important. In the case of your business they are because they’re the ones spending the money. So listen to what they have to say. Their wants, needs, and complaints will guide your business towards improvement and growth.
Retail Doctor is written by Gareth Parton, head of sales, Swish Window and Door Systems.
