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The 7 Phases of a Market Research Plan |
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The 7 Phases of a Market Research Plan |
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#1
04-26-2010, 06:11 PM
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The 7 Phases of a Market Research Plan
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Good market research will lead a company to recognise that the buyers in any market differ in their priorities, perceptions and preferences. It asks, who is buying the product and why? If finds out what jobs and outcomes customers require today, how they are being met today as well as tomorrow. Market research uncovers jobs that are not getting done well or at all, and then allows you to create an offering that customers will love because it’s so special in ways that matter to them. It reveals what offerings could help people do jobs so well they will be life changing in every sense of the word. The market research plan can be split into 7 phases. PHASE 1 - "Why?" - Why exactly are we doing this? * The ultimate research objective (what do we want to find out?) * Main questions to be answered * Problems to be solved * Level and scope of analysis * Decision alternatives (our options - what we can do at the end of our research) At this point it’s absolutely vital you are very clear about what you want to do. For example an airline set its main problem to be solved as - "Will offering an in flight internet service create enough incremental preference and profit to justify its costs against other possible enhancements we could make?" Then the main questions to be asked were identified, e.g. "How many passengers will use it at different levels? What type of first class passenger is most likely to use it? How much goodwill will be added to the airline image?" This is a very narrow focus - equally, as an airline manufacturer you may ask "What craft can we develop that does the job of long distant transportation better?" which is far broader. 2. PHASE 2 - "Who and What?" - Who do we need to speak to? Who and what do we need to analyse? This of course largely depends on the "Why?" part at Phase 1 which gives you the scope to work with. * Who you will survey (for example, consumers, customers, employees, non users etc.) * What you will survey (for example companies, trends, products, Value Lines, Performance 14 etc.) * How many of them you will survey * How you will find them * How you will choose them * How you will incentivise them PHASE 3 - "How?" - How are we going to get our information? How are you going to gather the information? Your approaches need to be set. Think about whether you need observational research, focus groups, surveys, behavioural data, or experimental research. Experimental research is the most scientifically valid of all – simply this is the experimenting with doing what you propose but on a small scale to test results. Secondly think about the research instruments to collect the primary data– questionnaires, qualitative measures and technological devices such as neurological scanners and think about the contact method and – mail questionnaire, telephone interview, personal interview, and online interviews all should be considered. Thirdly, you need a time line for all this to happen PHASE 4 Now at the fourth phase, it’s time to collect the data. This is where you design your data collection methods and then go to work. You have to focus on getting the right sort of data to avoid all sorts of complications. PHASE 5 During this time, and afterwards you’ll have to analyse the data – objectively. Avoid the trap of using the data to confirm what you thought or wanted! PHASE 6 Present the findings in a report format, usually within a marketing/value plan. PHASE 7 Make a decision. Remember - what you need to know to create world changing solutions is already out there, because people are performing the same jobs and looking for the same outcomes as they have been for years – when something doesn’t exist all that’s missing is the imagination and the use of technology to create the better solution and hence the solution itself. That’s your job. The ultimate goal, jobs and outcomes that world changing products met were always there... it just took somebody to come up with the product that could satisfy them better than the current solutions. 
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