Primary Market Research

Primary Market Research

The Market Position

Product Analysis

Using a Questionnaire

Asking the Questions

Preparing a Presentation

Why Market Research?

• Can you forecast demand for your product?

• Can you convince a sceptical person of the reality of this demand?

Primary Market Research

Secondary Market Research

The Market Position

• Product Life Cycle

• Analysis of Products

• Competitors

• Partners

• Your Unique Selling Point (USP)

• Customer Profile

• All leading to – Forecast of Demand

Analysing Products

Star

Growth phase

Problem Child

Growth phase

Cash Cow

Maturity

Dog

Decline

Mar

ket

Gro

wth

Market Share

Designing a Questionnaire

Before using a questionnaire you should be able to answer three questions:

• Who will you be asking?

• What do you need to find out?

• Why are you asking these questions?

Things You Could Ask About

• How often do they buy the product?

• What price are they prepared to pay?

• What is the most important factor when deciding?

• Which of these do you like the best?

• …

The Time Trade-Off

• If you ask all the questions you are interested in it will make the questionnaire too long

• Only include the questions you really need

Targeting?

• If you are sure of your market segment you could target who to ask to answer your questionnaire

• Then demographic questions don’t have to be asked (is there another way?)

• But it might be too early to decide on your market segment …

Clarity

• It is CRUCIAL that all questions (and introductory patter) are perfectly clear

• Questions often need to be broken down into stages so that they are simple and clearly asking ONE THING

Questions

• Mix of ‘Closed’ and ‘Open’ questions

• Multiple-choice questions

• Include ‘Other’ to capture data

• Make sure categories don’t overlap

• Make sure they are logically watertight

• Try to minimise writing time and maximise ‘time with target’

Asking the Questions

• Approach people actively• Smile and be polite• Bounce back if rejected• Don’t rush - not too much energy• Make sure they understand you• Leave space for answers• Chat to them, make them relax• Thank them lots of times

Preparing a Presentation

• Prepare for your audience

• Gather appropriate data and information to present

• Prepare and structure the material into a logical order

• Develop and prepare any visual aids

• Summarise the key points

• Don’t try to walk on water …