Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
business builder market research
by Albert Maruggi
Conducting a marketing campaign without first conducting systematic, disciplined market research is a lot like throwing darts at a wall — blindfolded.
Doing so can be a waste of time, effort and money on marketing and lead generation tactics that carry the wrong message and are not accurately targeted.
The current best-selling business book Blink advocates going with your snap judgment or “rapid cognition,” to use author Malcolm Gladwell’s phrase. Well, in our world, for businesses like yours and mine, bankers and investors require a bit more proof than intuition.
Rapid cognition may work for a market fraction of like-minded people who all come to that conclusion, but that’s not enough to build a profitable business.
Investing the necessary resources in good research might not seem in line with the fad of today’s business bestseller, but keeping your finger on the pulse of the buyers who will sign a check for your product or service will inspire innovation and lead to revenue.
To generate leads with true potential, thoughtful, efficient and quickly conducted market research enables a company to be proactive. It reveals important information: What size and type of companies to target, competitive encroachment, economic changes and what your buyers value.
Take the following situation as an example of the difference good market research can make when it comes time to drum up new business.
With the combination of the dot-com market crash and the economic impact of Sept. 11, 2001, businesses in several industries took a hit. The furniture market hit one of its worse declines in history.
One particular furniture company built seating for a variety of customers in many industries affected by the economic downturn. Sales plummeted. Buyers were more cautious, and the conservative spending had a ripple effect throughout the marketplace.
The company had no reference point from which to work in this new marketplace. It would have been easy to trudge along in the same direction, targeting the same types of customers. But the better choice was to understand the changes taking place and adjust accordingly. This was a chance to start anew. The company needed to find a new direction to expand its sales horizons.
In this case the company needed a macro analysis of market trends and a detailed understanding of what buyers in several vertical industries wanted. Secondary market research took care of most of the macro needs, such as identifying market opportunities, trends, demographics and information on the competition.
Primary research was needed to understand buying decisions, price points and value propositions of the vertical markets. Surveys and individual interviews uncovered potential prospects’ purchasing behavior and product requirements. This information ensures that product assets are aligned with prospects’ needs.
In this case, market research led to a series of key decisions for this furniture company:
1. Emphasize new vertical markets and drop some market segments.
2. Revise product line in response to changing demographics and under-served vertical segments.
3. Restructure sales-force expertise to reflect vertical market segment focus.
Act immediately
It can be said that research is the science of marketing and generating buyers is the art. Well, art is subjective, so it’s best to quickly field-test any research.
Based on the research in this particular case, a pilot lead-generation program was launched in one of the identified vertical market segments. It was tested in a limited geography of seven states with a database of fewer than 1,000 prospects. It was a multiple-touch program with three objectives: establish credibility within the vertical market segment, increase name identification with buyers in this vertical segment, and drive leads so sales reps can make product presentations within a specified time period
The tactics used were three printed mail pieces, two targeted phone calls, three e-mails, a market segment brochure, a target letter, a Web page with customized URL, and a follow-up from the sales team.
This campaign included customized information for regional sales reps in the mail pieces, thereby giving them added name recognition and hitting on the message of local service. Critical assessment at each step along the way allowed for message and targeting improvement, campaign timing and tactics adjustment, and lead nurturing process improvement.
Such a comprehensive campaign is critical to the mission of establishing or strengthening brand recognition and generating new leads. Repetitive delivery over multiple media — direct mail, e-mail and nurturing phone calls, to name a few — enhanced the message and increased retention.
This case resulted in more than 200 leads, a response rate of 21 percent. “Rapid cognition” can’t produce results like that. Each methodical step provides a level of confidence upon which to build. Intuition certainly has a place in business, but execution and assessment are requirements that will enable a company to be effective and flexible when the market demands.
Lesson learned: Be proactive and learn about new opportunities, through research. If you’re going to throw darts, aim for the bull’s-eye.
Albert Maruggi is president of Provident Partners in St. Paul, a marketing and public relations firm: 651.695.0174; am******@***************rs.net; www.providentpartners.net
