Timely Response is Critical

In the voice of the customer world it is our role as market researchers to listen and follow through on what the customers are saying. Quite often this puts us in the position of ‘middle men’ between the customers and internal groups (e.g. sales, marketing, finance, customer service, etc.)...read more

Do We Agree?

Ok so just what is a Likert scale anyway? If you have been in market research, or any form of survey research, for any length of time you have no doubt come across the ubiquitous Likert scale and its strongly agree to strongly disagree framework. In the years I have been involved in constructing...read more

Getting Back to the Trenches: Getting too Far Removed from the Customer Experience

Some days as a B2B market researcher, and in my previous lives in consumer research, I find myself becoming more intimate with SPSS files and questionnaires than with our customers. Ah, you might say, such is the life of a quant junkie. Well that may be true, as I do love working with the data that...read more

Philosophers & Market Researches, One in the Same? Dancing in the Consumer's Shoes

Just who we are is a question that has been asked by philosophers since time immemorial. Market research professionals are no different than those wise men from ancient Greece in this regard. Our task is to create an understanding of the consumer’s mind in which we can shape our brand positioning...read more

Quota Design

Not all surveys will be applicable to all potential respondents. Targeting our survey efforts to those most likely to respond will increase our engagement levels and in theory provide a more interesting experience. How do we know who is most likely to respond? This is a question for the ages, but in...read more

Keeping an Eye on What is Important

What is statistical significance anyway? The core of our survey data analysis should be directed toward generating consumer insights that are both meaningful and actionable. In order to achieve this joint goal we have to keep our eye on significance, both statistical and managerial.Previously we...read more

Customer Satisfaction + Importance

Customer satisfaction measurement can be best described as part art, part science, and part intuition. Regardless of how you view it there are several moving parts to this equation. Satisfaction, as a measure itself, is part of a larger equation centered on profitability. When designing a...read more

Using Qualitative and Quantitative Question Formats

In both consumer and B2B market research we are often faced with questions from clients that require both quantitative research methods as well as the deeper insights that come from unstructured or more qualitative approaches. Fortunately, online survey platforms such as Cvent allow us the ability...read more

Keeping your Survey Reporting On-Track

Creating reports from your online survey platform can be both a blessing and a curse. There are numerous pre-designed report options available which can easily shave hours of time off a project. Reports follow several themes including: Answer Summaries and Details – individual frequency counts for...read more

A new twist on the one percent concept

There is another side to the ‘one percent’ debate. This presented itself in fine fashion recently thanks to two emails from LinkedIn. In the past year the business networking site surpassed 200 million profiles. In 2012, I received an initial email stating that I was one of the first one percent of...read more
The Rise of the Smart Phone: Are you Leverging Mobile? 10 Tips for Mobile-Friendly Survey Creation