The Growing Disconnect Inside Market Research

No matter which side you occupy in the market research equation, you’ve likely heard a version of this short dialog at some point over the past few years.

Agencies: “Our clients don’t need access to data faster.”

Clients: “Oh my gosh, yes we do.”

Why are we still having this conversation?”

For some reason, even with all the technology out there to facilitate a better process, when clients have a question about their OWN data, they need to accomplish multiple steps to help answer it.

1. The insights team or a stakeholder asks a question.
2. The insights team has to go back to their agency for the answer.
3. The agency digs around in the data and pulls it.
4. Agency creates a static PowerPoint.
5. Agency emails the PowerPoint.
6. Days or weeks later, the client uses PowerPoint to answer the question.

These long lead times and inefficient processes do nothing to help prove the value of data and insights to a company’s bottom line. In fact, once the data is delivered, it is often out of date. Clients need dynamic, direct access to their own data.

 

Connecting the dots for clients

As a market research vendor or agency, we should let the needs of the clients drive our deliverables. And if clients are asking for faster access to the data, it needs to be a priority. This can mean eliminating the six steps above and giving the client direct, interactive access to the data itself.

This doesn’t mean eliminating the agency-client relationship by any means. In fact, agencies that give their clients immediate, hands-on access to data often find themselves with more projects because the original deliverables are bringing up additional unmet research needs or business questions. Clients are able to prove insights ROI – on an immediate basis – and are thrilled to avoid the traditional manual, multi-step, static approach. Who are they thanking? The agency or vendor that made it possible.

 

This isn’t just talk

It is possible and has been put into action already for major brands. We worked on a project with a major international consumer electronics manufacturer struggling to answer leadership insights requests with slow, expensive static crosstab reports that relied on an outside vendor. By the time the data was ready, it was no longer pertinent or necessary. To perform another query, they had to go back to the drawing board.

By implementing a technology platform where the manufacturer could access continually updated data in the cloud, instantly, the company’s insights team was able to prove even greater value to leadership. Data is now accessible to a wider number of users; the team is generating more insights than ever, relationships are enhanced through the ability to deliver quality, segmented insights, and customer understanding is higher than ever across the entire company. Far from losing work, a trusted long-term partnership has been gained.

 

That’s just one example

There are a vast number of benefits to brand clients when they can access their own data and get faster insights. Unfortunately, many agencies are still manually delivering swaths of static spreadsheets and slides. The disconnect continues to widen, and the only way to stop it is to start listening.

Recent events have exacerbated the need for fast insights as brands struggle to understand a consumer that is in constant flux. This need shows no sign of slowing down or disappearing, and clients are going to continue to feel frustrated by slow turnaround times when they need insights immediately.
It’s time for a new conversation that goes like this:

Clients: “I need access to data faster.”

Agencies: “Here’s a solution to get the data directly into your hands.”