The desk researcher

What is it about Seth Godin?

What is it about Seth Godin that makes me want to listen to what he has to say?

Having thought for a while I think I have come up with the answer and it boils down to two things. 1: He is succinct and 2: He tells a good story. 

1: Succinct: The brevity of his messages that are fired out on a regular basis to those of us that want to listen are such that when I see he has put a new post on his blog I can view it straight away. I know it will only take me a couple of minutes to read, digest and carry on with my day. His latest blog post is only 160 words long. It took me less than a minute to read.Have a look and see what I mean.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/07/the-art-of-seduction.html

2: Stories: He can capture your attention with a good story. I watched his TED talk on tribes that we lead. He spoke for 20 minutes and he told a story. In the age of information overload we forget how important it is to connect with humanity and tell story. He articulates his points with real people. This is so important.

One other thing he did which I thought was great was that he brought reality to the room ( See Chip and Dan Heaths Book Made to Stick for hints on presenting - this is one of their ideas) Get to 3.44 on the video and see what he does. This is subtle yet so effective. Watch and see what I mean.

The Role of Market Research in B2B Lead Generation

Market research is the first step in the lead generation process

 To maximise your sales and marketing ROI you need to be targeting the right prospects with the right messages at the right time. Market research is the logical first step in this process and it need not be expensive. Carrying out a thorough market research exercise will help you understand your market opportunity, focussing your efforts on the decision makers you should be talking to. And with B2B data decaying at a rate of up to 40% a year it is vital to uncover targeted and accurate data sources from which to build and maintain your marketing database.

 Why carry out expensive primary market research when the information might already be available in the public domain? Desk research carried out by someone who knows where to look for the information will very quickly give you a picture of your market in terms of its structure, competition, market drivers and key players. If it is a niche market with limited available information then the desk research could be enhanced with interviews of industry experts or gurus.

Conducting Customer Satisfaction Research

Here is an overview of a paper I put together a couple of years ago on customer satisfaction research. The points I make are still very relevant today so I thought I would share them with you. Click the link at the bottom for a more in-depth guide.

To implement a successful customer satisfaction project it is worth considering the following 12 points which cover all stages of the customer satisfaction research process.

1.  Get a senior management project sponsor who will champion change as a result of the  research findings.

2. During project set up make sure that representatives from customer facing departments are all involved. Get their buy in early on.   

3. Use a research partner to add credibility to the process so the results are seen as a true reflection of how the customer perceives the company.

4. This research partner should also be experienced in managing the communication and dissemination of the research findings.

5. Keep the questionnaire simple by focussing on the issues that matter the most to the customer. 

6. Test the Net Promoter concept to see if it correlates with business performance in your particular sector.

7. Use the technology available for fieldwork and analysis. For example, where possible use the web as a mechanism for collecting customer feedback.

8. When communicating the research results make sure that the right information is delivered to the right people and in the right context. For example high level strategic information for senior management and high level operational information for customer facing staff.  

9. Have clear action plans that are focussed on making improvements in the areas that are more likely to influence customer satisfaction.

10. Identify likely internal barriers to effective communication and define a communications plan to overcome those barriers.

11. The communications plan should tell both customers and staff of the research findings and the action plans put in place to address the issues raised.

12. Where possible incorporate customer satisfaction measures into bonuses and remuneration packages.

  For further information click to download the full 4 page guide to running customer satisfaction research projects. Download Customer Satisfaction Success research4 - July 2010

Rory Sutherland - Sweating the small stuff and the need for a Chief Detail Officer in every company.

Watched this last night and I think this talk captures what TED is all about.

I am guilty of being conditioned this way. I would often use the excuse of not having a budget to not do stuff, or what might actually be worse, having a budget and feeling I need to spend every penny on doing something big and important, and eye catching.Now I don't have any money so I have to look at problems a little differently.

Prezi.com

I have recently become obsessed finding new ways to present market research findings. I have always felt that Powerpoint has been consistently abused and mis-used for years and the world needed a better, more intuitive and creative way of delivering information to an audience. Well I think that solution might have arrived in the form of Prezi.com.

I am still getting to grips with its interface and I have yet to use it in anger, but the early signs are promising. 

Research4 Prezi on Prezi

This is a Prezi that I created for our stand at the Insight show. It is a pretty basic example given what can be achieved but despite that I think it is still visually very effective. 

The problem with Powerpoint has always been the constraints of the linear slide sequence and the constant desire for people to add text to bullet points. This had led to some shocking presentations ( of which I am sure I am guilty of one or two in the past which still make me cringe when I think of them) . 

So we might at last be moving into a new world that is no longer reliant on the dreaded Powerpoint slide show.