Research and review: lay out the facts before you start
Internal information: the vital clues are probably right under your nose
Most companies sit on a goldmine of information which could make a vital contribution to business planning, if only someone could find the nuggets in there. We can.
We have the experience to know where to look, spot patterns quickly and take a cool outsiders' view of what the data is saying. Whether you have sophisticated EPoS systems from which you can download, or a heap of customer letters or comment cards, we can get the most out of your information. Quickly and efficiently.
Or we can show you how to do it yourself and how to set up realistic management information gathering. In any case, trawling internal data should be the first stop for any planning initiative. It will tell you, for free, key pieces of information about how the business is functioning and then highlight where the knowledge gaps are.
Desk research: relevant market information, available to everyone
Once internal sources have been bled dry, it makes sense to look at any other free or cheap information relevant to your planning. Internet sources, published market reports and competitors themselves can help to fill some of the knowledge gaps.
What is available, and from which sources, varies hugely by market sector, but we know where to look and who to ask. We will always recommend the most reliable sources and most cost-effective approach for your to gather the information essential for strategy development.
We have the experience to quickly identify trends and patterns from a range of different sources, pin-pointing exactly the areas where you will need to carry out your own original research.
Customer research: hear it from the horse’s mouth
Potentially a costly exercise, it is essential that customer research is carefully planned. Who do you want to talk to? What would you like to ask them? How will you find them? How many of them? Will they want to talk to you anyway? Which decisions are you planning to make based on the research – what must you find out? And how do you make sure that you don’t fall foul of data protection legislation and market research best practise?
Lots of questions when what you need are answers. We have the experience, from face-to-face interviewing to board level presentation of results, to ensure that your customer research project will give you exactly the sort of information your strategy needs and every pound spent talking to customers is effective, even if we can’t guarantee that the answers will be exactly what you wanted.
Every customer research project, however it is carried out, from postal surveys to exit interviews, will bring you closer to your customers and leave a lasting legacy within your business. And we can ensure that the final report doesn’t just sit on the shelf, but finds its way into the core of your company’s strategy.
Segmentation: different people want and need different things
Grouping customers based on their buying patterns and needs can allow any business to make the most of different market opportunities whilst making the most effective and efficient use of resources.
The whole process of thinking about customer segments often helps to bring customers ‘to life’ and is useful for communicating within the business about service standards, product development and promotion channels….
We don’t make customer segmentation any more complex than it needs to be. Customer categories will be based on a range of meaningful information, such as buying patterns and attitudes, and will be immediately recognisable.
Having identified your different customer groups, we can work with you to develop manageable but tailored action plans covering product development, customer service, pricing, promotion.
Competitor review: what are they up to?
Who exactly are you up against? A good understanding of the competition allows you adopt the best practice and see where the threats are likely to come from.
A customer review often comes hand-in-hand with a segmentation exercise – which competitors are serving different parts of the market best? As always, this sort of project throws up as many questions as it answers, but inevitably, will lay out clear strategic options.