Smart Marketing -
Article Three

Researching the Research

The first two articles in this “Smart Marketing” series on Customer-Centric Intelligence have covered what the concept means and provided examples of successful companies who have thought innovatively, become closer to their customers, and reaped the benefits in terms of customer value, brand equity and internal process efficiencies.

This week the focus turns back upon the consumer.  We’ve already covered the ways in which consumers and their worlds are changing, and how companies which embody consumers’ value-sets stand to enjoy greater customer commitment and profits as a result.  But how can one get this understanding? The first instinct for many is to reach for the market research – run a few focus groups or conduct a survey.  There certainly is a place and a time for such work, but it’s only part of a wider picture once the Customer-Centric Intelligence philosophy is adopted.

The first step is to examine what your business has already got in terms of market and customer research.  If you’re in a large company, a widespread search may yield surprising results – users (and commissioners) of market research within a business often include marketing and brand managers, retail managers, webmasters, PR managers, call centre managers, DM specialists, ad agencies, HR managers, CEOs and senior sales managers, to name a few.  Not surprisingly, the range of research you may thus find available could be equally large as this list, and some of it may be dated.  It can still be of value however, or at the very least the research can be used as a springboard for future work and a benchmark for later comparisons.

The second step is to recognize that not all customer insights come from surveys and similar outsourced research.  Step two is to examine the data contained within the various channels your company is involved in.  For example, website traffic analysis, channel sales patterns, customer account data-mining, customer churn analysis, point of sale data and the analysis of any loyalty schemes you may be running.  Some of this work may require outsourced specialists, but there is a growing range of online analysis products which can be rented or purchased at reasonable rates. So, once you’ve found this data, it’s important to realize that although it may be current, whether it’s useful is another matter.  Remember that the idea of Customer-Centric  Intelligence is not just to interact with the Customer in a better way, but also to 'know' the Customer.  So consider the data that is at every primary and secondary touch-point – meaning that the financial or delivery information is just as important to you as the demographic details.

The third and final step in getting closer to consumers is to conduct the research which is traditionally the work conducted first – looking into the future, finding out what consumers think, what strategies would be best to employ, and what the real opportunities for your business are.  Many readers may find this to be at odds with the market research they have experienced, recalling endless charts and statistics and impartial but dull research boffins.  If this is your experience seek out those market researchers with as much enthusiasm and interest in your business as you have yourself.  In particular, those researchers who will also seek to understand and use the insights and information made available from steps one and two. 

Market research, as a window into consumers, is a key component of business intelligence – but only when the researchers understand that there are other avenues available through which consumer behaviour can be understood, avenues beyond surveys and focus groups. Once you have measures and insights into consumers’ thoughts, behaviours and hearts, through all the channels available to you, then Customer-Centric intelligence is significantly closer to being achieved. 

The next stage, discussed here next week, is to analyse the company and its internal processes to the same extent as you have studied the customer.