Market research: Results - cost and time scale
Results - cost and time scale
What will you do with the information? It is critical that you think this through before starting any research. What you want to do with the information should shape the nature of the questions and possibly even the manner in which it is collected. It will certainly affect the analysis and any conclusions drawn.
How much do you want to pay for the answer? The cost of market research can vary widely: from thousands of pounds to many millions spent by multinationals on major consumer brands. It is relatively easy to assess the cost of market research and the procedure to follow is:
- scope out the activities that you think will be needed (e.g. 1000 telephone calls, 200 face to face interviews etc.) assess the amount of time input that this requires (see below for a guide);
- identify the daily cost of either your own staff or employing people of the right calibre to do the work;
- add in the preparation time for questionnaires and the time to analyse and write up the reports.
A brief guide to Researchers time:
- Telephone calls - around 8 to 10 completed calls per working day. Note that to get 10 interviews completed will probably require 50 to 100 calls to be made;
- Face To face interviews - typically only two face to face interviews can be accomplished a day, and if travel to other towns is required, then this may fall to one - this is to allow time for the interview to be completed and written up;
- Street Interviewing: around twenty to thirty a day may be accomplished depending on the questions;
- Group discussions: Set aside at least a day for administration and a half day for the group. Don't forget that more than one person is required to run a group interview;
- Written questionnaire: Typically a response of between 1% and 3% is considered normal.
Work backwards from when the results are required to get start date. Produce a bar chart (sometimes called a Gantt chart) showing the various steps and the interrelationship between each of them. Typically the stages will be as follows:
- scope the project;
- set-up phase (e.g. hiring or contracting staff, preparing questionnaires, samples, purchasing mailing lists);
- Desk Research - looking to see what already exists; test phase (sometimes called piloting). Test a small sample of people to check your approach ;
- research - There may be a number of phases, one leading to another;
- analysis - takes longer than you might think as you may have to revisit some answers for confirmation or clarification so leave plenty of time for this!;
- reporting - a written report should be prepared setting out the modus operandi and the results and if relevant conclusions and recommendations, and to provide a reference document.
Market research can be a very valuable tool for assessing true needs and wants in a market place. To be effective, however, it must be structured, focussed on segments and analysed in the context of the results desired. The key steps are:
- scope the project - which segments to research, objectives (what do you want to know, when, etc);
- agree budget - very important!;
- set-up phase (e.g. hiring consultants/advisors, preparing questionnaires, samples, purchasing mailing lists);
- Desk Research - looking to see what already exists;
- Field Research:
- test phase (sometimes called piloting) test with a small sample of people to check your approach;
- main research - there may be a number of phases, one leading to another;
- analysis;
- reporting - a written report should be prepared for the benefit of others in your firm, and to provide a reference document.
It is better to get outside help as specialist firms have:
- experience;
- techniques;
- skilled staff that can yield results faster than in-house operation
- no prejudice or bias;
- flexibility;
- a greater degree of anonymity which can be critical.
~ Neil Jones ~
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