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TOP 10 RESEARCH FEARS OF MANAGERS An often overlooked factor in the demise of the dot-com economy was the "act now, ask questions later" ethic. With time-to-market at a premium, companies dispensed with an essential tool of successful businesses: research. Market research. Customer research. Employee research. Here's an example from our experience: A large company was late developing a web site for its customers so it was under pressure to make it "the best and most advanced" site as quickly as possible. At that time, the trend was to make a web site that would be a portal where customers would want to come every day before they did anything else. The site developers also convinced management that the company's customers would want to configure or "personalize" the site to make it suit their individual needs. After considerable cash had flowed into site development, a few managers thought it might be a good idea to ask the customers for feedback. Results of an online focus group came as a shock to management and developers alike. Customers did not find the new company web site compelling. They had no interest in playing around to "personalize" it. They did have a rich laundry list of ideas for ways the site could be designed to help them do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. While this information was extremely useful going forward, it came too late to prevent misspent money and misdirected developer time. As researchers we see far too many cases where a small investment in research up front could have prevented costly business mistakes. Why should this be so? We've identified ten reasons for "research avoidance." What do you think? 1. WE ALREADY KNOW WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS (OR MARKET OR EMPLOYEES) WANT - WHY BOTHER? The example above shows how mistaken this rationale can be. 2. WE CAN'T AFFORD IT RIGHT NOW. Budgets are tight everywhere. But as our case study illustrates, investing in a modest research effort early in the life of a project or can yield immediate benefits in terms of avoiding wasted resources. Key transition points also offer pivotal opportunities for research. For example, culture surveys prior to a merger, acquisition or reorganization can alert smart managers to potential areas of conflict. Survey results can open the door for discussion, negotiation and planning to limit the drop in productivity that often follows such organizational traumas. 3. DOING RESEARCH SUGGESTS WE'RE NOT SMART ENOUGH TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S NEEDED ON OUR OWN. Research involves asking key stakeholders what they think, how they perceive us, what they need and want. Yet in today's business culture, being "savvy," "in touch," and "on top of things" is highly valued. Peer pressure or management expectations may inadvertently convey that if you need to ask, you're not "with it." Suggesting the simple expedient of asking what employees or customers think might be seen as undermining one's status and perceived value to the company. In the example above, developers were certainly knowledgeable about what was valued in their own community. But they failed to consider key differences between themselves and the primary users of the company site. 4. WE DON'T HAVE TIME - WE NEED TO GET TO MARKET ASAP. Research does take time, and especially for high-tech companies, time to market is a critical success factor. Fortunately, new tools have reduced research turnaround time from weeks and months to days and weeks. For ongoing research such as monthly customer surveys, managers can have virtually instantaneous access to research results via online databases and reporting systems. 5. WE'LL JUST SEND OUT A SURVEY AND ASK OUR CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY WANT. Many managers equate customer and employee research with simple opinion polls. And in some cases, simply asking customers whether they want A or B and going with the majority vote might suffice. Asking is better than not asking, but a good research program can answer critical questions such as which market segments or employee groups prefer which solutions, or what factors actually drive their purchase behavior or loyalty. 6. PAST RESEARCH HAS NOT BEEN INFORMATIVE. This reason for research avoidance is most often heard from managers who have used the simple polling model for past research. 7. NOTHING CHANGES BASED ON RESEARCH. We agree this is a legitimate fear. All too often research is conducted and the results are never communicated, much less acted upon. Like any other important business activity, research requires management buy-in, communication, and accountability. 8. ONCE WE GET THE RESULTS, WE MAY HAVE TO CHANGE. This is the flip side of the previous fear. There is little point in doing research unless the organization is willing to respond, but managers who advocate research may overlook or attempt to minimize the challenges of research-driven change. Acknowledging from the outset that research results are likely to imply change is crucial for acceptance and use of results. Areas that are not open for change may need to be negotiated out of the research. The alternative is to risk allowing resistance to restrict the scope of change after results are in. When customers or employees realize that their feedback has been ignored, trust and credibility are likely to be replaced by disillusionment, resentment, and cynicism. 9. IT'S DIFFICULT TO CALCULATE THE RETURN ON OUR INVESTMENT IN RESEARCH. An easy way to address this fear is to estimate the value of what is at risk if untested beliefs are acted upon and fail. What if we build it and they do not come? What if we fail to ask employees how we could be more effective leaders, and we continue practices that drain motivation and drive away our best people? For ongoing processes such as customer transaction surveys, the value of research may be estimated by changes in customer feedback that can be linked to research-driven decisions and actions. In some cases, changes on survey results can be linked to improved revenues or profits. Setting up such linkages is challenging and not always necessary, especially when changes resulting from feedback have a clear beneficial impact. Spelling out the business objectives of the research is just as important in research as it is in any other organizational investment. In our previous issue, "Are your surveys an investment or an expense?" we provide additional guidance on estimating ROI of survey research and focus groups (archived at www.surveycompany.com/resources/newsletter/archives/2002/ 10. WE DON'T HAVE A RESEARCH BUDGET. Why not allocate a portion of your marketing communications We'll have more to say about this next month. Till then, consider what research could tell you that might help you sell more, improve customer loyalty and raise employee morale. Dave Flack *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* For a FREE 15-minute consultation to identify ways your
business can benefit from research, call 408-245-5411, or send
email to DaveF@surveycompany.com
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