Do your market research by telephone

The process involves gathering information from a sample (portion) of a market and then predicting what the whole market thinks or wants. A typical approach is this:

1.           Decide precisely what it is you want to find out
2.           Prepare your list of questions
3.           Select your sample of research subjects
4.           Conduct the research
5.           Collate and analyze your results

What do you want to know and what do you ask?

The first task in any research is to decide exactly what it is you need to know. Define the target information as closely as possible. Say you are interested in how effective your current advertising is and wondering if setting up a website would be a good idea. Then you want to know such things as; if your current ads are getting noticed, and if so, where; the number of hours people spend on the Internet each week; do they use it to locate suppliers of products such as yours, and so on. Now prepare questions that will give you this information.  Keep the list as short as possible.  A good questionnaire is easy for respondents to understand and doesn't ‘lead’ them towards a particular answer.  Try it out on a friend or family member first.

Choosing your sample

A ‘sample’ is a group drawn at random from all those people who are in your chosen market. The bigger the sample, the more likely you are to get answers that represent the feelings of the group as a whole. How you identify people to interview depends a lot on the purpose of the survey. Often it’s enough to just draw a list from the telephone book; other times a trade directory may provide a more targeted or relevant list. Or you can buy lists of people who meet your customer profile specifications from a marketing firm.

Conducting telephone research

The way you conduct the interview can make the difference between getting useful answers, poor answers or even a rejection. A good interviewer always:

•           Introduces himself and states the purpose of the call
•           Gives the respondent an opportunity to choose a more convenient time
•           Speaks courteously, positively and is  empathetic
•           Shows appreciation that the respondent is giving their time
•           Patiently persists until they get the information they want
•           Completes the call by thanking the respondent

Stay focused only on the question(s) you need answered. Record all information of value on a separate questionnaire for each subject. Include the name of the subject, their company (if applicable), telephone number, and time and date of the interview.  Review your notes at the end of each telephone call to discover any points that were unclear or that you failed to cover.

Analyzing the results

Now you have some data it’s up to you to interpret the findings. Start by creating a table into which you can insert all the answers for each question. Relate these answers back to what it is you wanted to find out, and you should have the information you need.  If you can’t draw a conclusion from your research, review your questionnaire and look for the reasons why the research hasn’t worked. You may have to conduct more than one research project to get exactly what you want.