Good decision making often comes with experience. We have a gut feeling or hunch about something and often that’s what we run with for decision making purposes. However, if you’re looking to make strategic business decisions, relying on your hunches or gut may not be the most effective or reliable means for success.
We recently completed a project where the customer was looking to change some important elements of its brand which would affect their marketing and positioning of their products. The internal project champion had their own hunches on what they thought their customers would want to see which was driving this project. The rest of the executive team did not feel these changes were in their best interest. The good news is that they recognized the need to conduct market research and gather insight from their customers and prospective customers on the changes they were considering.
Here are the steps we took to help them:
1. Knowing What To Ask…
We worked with the client to fully understand what their information goals and objectives were for the data we would help them collect. Starting with the end in mind, we learned what decisions the results will drive which enables us to make sure we are asking the proper questions that will capture the appropriate answers and drive appropriate conclusions and decision making for the client.
2. Knowing Who To Ask…
We ensured that we gathered feedback from a statistically valid number of respondents for customers, target customers and the general market. Ensuring statistical validity guarantees a degree of confidence that the findings are real, reliable, and not due to chance. This validity confirms that we would get the same results if we applied it to a greater sample base.
3. Knowing How To Use The Results…
The results validated the assumptions from the executive team; however, the findings did not support the hunch or theory from our client project champion. They were dead set on listening to their gut and getting their way.
When we were done with our presentation, they asked, “so when do we just go with our gut and not listen to the results?” Our response was “NEVER.” We captured effective data from a statistically valid sample of your customers, targets and the market and the results are what they want. By not listening to the results, you are setting your brand up for failure.
Consider these Customer Acceleration tips that will help you make more money from your customers and make them happier in the process!
And if you’d like some help, please reach out at (216-876-1165) I’m happy to help you get started.
