Thousands of entrepreneurs and small businesses suffer from not understanding their customers. They don't what they are doing right that causes customers to come to them. And, importantly, they don't know why customers choose to shop a competitor instead. Essentially, they lack a clear understanding of the needs of their customers and prospects which, if exploited, would assuredly grow their business. Often ego or downright stubbornness prevents entrepreneurs or small-business executives from using market research. They think they know the needs of their customers better than the customers themselves. Frequently, they feel that marketing research is too expensive, complex or just won't provide new answers. Guerrilla Marketing Research extends the well-known Guerrilla Marketing franchise to explain how to use marketing research as a tool for more effectively developing marketing, sales promotion or new product. It illustrates how big companies use market research to make money and how small companies can do the same at a fraction of the cost. It destroys the myth that only big companies can afford marketing research and makes clear to small and mid-size companies and entrepreneurs, and even larger businesses without an in-house research function, how marketing research can add to their bottom line.
Author(s): Robert J. Kaden
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 232
Contents......Page 7
About the author......Page 11
Foreword......Page 13
Acknowledgments......Page 15
Introduction......Page 17
1 Customer attitudes – should you even care?......Page 19
WHAT DOES LISTENING TO CONSUMERS REALLY MEAN?......Page 20
DO CUSTOMERS REALLY TELL YOU THE TRUTH?......Page 23
DOES RESEARCH WORK FOR ALL TYPES OF BUSINESSES?......Page 25
2 Asking the right questions......Page 27
WHERE ARE YOUR GREATEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR MAKING MORE MONEY?......Page 29
UNDERSTANDING THE NEEDS OF YOUR CUSTOMER......Page 31
PUTTING RESEARCH QUESTIONS INTO RESEARCH OBJECTIVES......Page 32
DEFINING RESEARCH OBJECTIVES FURTHER......Page 34
WHAT ACTIONS MIGHT YOU TAKE?......Page 35
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH......Page 36
3 How the big guys do it – large-company research......Page 39
STRATEGIC VERSUS TACTICAL RESEARCH......Page 40
SETTING RESEARCH PRIORITIES......Page 41
WHAT KINDS OF STUDIES DO LARGE COMPANIES CONDUCT?......Page 42
TEST MARKET RESEARCH......Page 45
DEVELOPING NEW PRODUCTS......Page 46
UNDERSTANDING CURRENT OR POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES......Page 47
KNOWING WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK......Page 48
ATTITUDES VERSUS BEHAVIOR......Page 49
DETERMINING THE BEST RESEARCH APPROACH FROM THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE......Page 50
WHICH COMES FIRST?......Page 52
DETERMINING WHETHER THE PRODUCT MEETS CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS......Page 53
IS YOUR MESSAGE BEING HEARD?......Page 54
GENERATING MORE BUSINESS FROM CURRENT CUSTOMERS......Page 55
INCREASING THE SIZE OF THE MARKET......Page 57
5 How much does research cost?......Page 59
DETERMINING A MEANINGFUL RESEARCH BUDGET......Page 60
COMING TO GRIPS WITH A BUDGET......Page 61
WHAT BUSINESS ARE YOU IN?......Page 64
HOW TO JUDGE CREDENTIALS......Page 65
UNDERSTANDING SUPPLIER PRICING......Page 68
COSTING A PROJECT......Page 69
DO ALL RESEARCH SUPPLIERS PRICE THEIR PROJECTS THE SAME WAY?......Page 70
HOW MUCH WILL A MODERATOR MAKE ON A FOCUS GROUP PROJECT?......Page 71
SAVING MONEY ON FOCUS GROUP STUDIES......Page 73
HOW MUCH WILL A SUPPLIER MAKE ON A TELEPHONE SURVEY?......Page 74
SAVING MONEY ON YOUR SURVEY......Page 76
ARE RESEARCH SUPPLIERS WORTH WHAT THEY CHARGE?......Page 78
BEING A GOOD CLIENT......Page 79
A LITTLE CAN GO A LONG WAY......Page 81
MORE THAN YOUR COMPETITION......Page 82
FOCUS ON SMALL COMPETITORS NEXT......Page 83
HOW MUCH RESEARCH, REALLY......Page 84
WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF QUESTIONS......Page 85
THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE......Page 87
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES......Page 89
TARGET MARKET RESPONDENTS......Page 91
WHAT ARE THEY REALLY?......Page 95
SETTING FOCUS GROUP OBJECTIVES AND A DISCUSSION GUIDE......Page 96
SETTING UP FOCUS GROUPS......Page 99
FOCUS GROUP FACILITIES......Page 101
FACILITY COSTS......Page 102
FOCUS GROUP SCREENERS......Page 103
HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE FOCUS GROUP MODERATOR......Page 108
THE WARM-UP......Page 111
ALWAYS CALL ON PEOPLE BY NAME......Page 113
LISTEN INTENTLY......Page 114
PROBING......Page 115
KNOWING WHEN TO CHANGE SUBJECTS......Page 118
FOLLOWING THE DISCUSSION GUIDE......Page 120
GROUP EXERCISES......Page 122
PRE-GROUP HOMEWORK......Page 123
BUILDING FROM ONE GROUP TO ANOTHER......Page 124
RECALL RESPONDENTS......Page 125
TYPES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH......Page 126
CREATIVE CONSUMERS......Page 130
10 Brainstorming and other ideation processes......Page 133
11 Surveys......Page 137
TYPES OF SURVEYS......Page 138
STRATEGIC STUDY OBJECTIVES......Page 139
DETERMINING YOUR TARGET RESPONDENTS......Page 140
12 Writing questionnaires......Page 143
TYPES OF QUESTIONS......Page 144
QUESTIONNAIRES FOR TELEPHONE AND PERSONAL INTERVIEWING......Page 145
THE COOPERATION PHASE......Page 146
THE QUALIFICATION PHASE......Page 147
THE MAIN BODY OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE PHASE......Page 150
THE DEMOGRAPHIC PHASE......Page 176
THE THANK-YOU PHASE......Page 177
13 Sampling......Page 179
SAMPLING AND ERROR RANGE......Page 180
DETERMINING SAMPLE SIZE......Page 182
THEORETICAL VERSUS PRACTICAL......Page 183
REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLING......Page 184
APPROACHING RESPONDENTS......Page 185
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWING......Page 189
MAIL SURVEYS......Page 192
IN-PERSON INTERVIEWING......Page 194
THE INTERNET......Page 195
PANELS......Page 196
15 Organizing data......Page 199
CROSS-TAB PLAN......Page 200
BANNER POINT AND STUB......Page 203
TAB PLAN EXAMPLE......Page 205
SIGNIFICANCE TESTS......Page 207
REGRESSION ANALYSIS......Page 210
TURF ANALYSIS......Page 211
CLUSTER ANALYSIS......Page 213
OTHER STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES......Page 214
FIGURES DON’T LIE, LIARS FIGURE......Page 215
17 Telling the story – analyzing survey results......Page 217
THE ZEN OF DATA......Page 218
BEYOND THE FIRST BLUSH......Page 222
ANALYZING STRING QUESTIONS......Page 223
IMPORTANCE VERSUS AGREEMENT......Page 224
GAP ANALYSIS......Page 225
THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE......Page 227
ANALYTIC SATISFACTION......Page 229
WRITING A REPORT......Page 230
18 Putting results into action......Page 233
LAND MINES......Page 237
A FINAL WORD......Page 238
Glossary of terms......Page 241
Index......Page 245
Further reading......Page 249
