In my last post I wrote about getting all chummy with your prospects. In this post I’ll address industry research, which is likely the easiest to do.

First, let’s talk reasoning. Why do industry research? It’s important to get a feel for what’s going on in a client or prospect’s industry, if you are to do a good job. You’ll want to learn what the trends are, common challenges, who the major players are, where your client or prospect fits in to the scheme of things and such. With this information under wing, you can not only talk intelligently with your client, your can also create a better design solution. Research and solutions based on facts is what graphic design is all about. Without it, it tends to be nothing more than graphic decoration. You’re better than that.

Your industry research can start at your initial meeting with the client or prospect. Make a point to ask them for industry press (and then read it). Ask them questions about what’s what in their industry. If there’s trade jargon you don’t quite get, ask what this or that means.

Next, fire up your favorite browser and start poke around the Web. Odds are, you’ll find loads of information. Visit trade association sites. They’re usually ripe with current trends and related information. If you have some dough to toss around, trade organizations often have fairly current research studies you can purchase. Sometimes they’re even free.

Google up some articles about the industry. Cruise over to industry consultant sites. Consultants will often have white papers and/or articles that will help you out. Also, consider calling some industry suppliers. They often have a finger on the industry’s pulse and know what’s really going on behind the scenes.

For more involved studies, the Internet offers several survey creation sites, such as Zoomerang.com and Surveymonkey.com. Both offer free surveys and paid options. When your budget allows, research studies, focus groups and such can be conducted by partnering with an outside firm.

Time invested in research will enable you to make confident design decisions. It provides a framework and helps to focus your thinking. Contrary to what some designers may think, research doesn’t stifle your creativity, it empowers it. Without it, you’re often shooting in the dark. Marketing research provides you with the ability to present your solutions and make a sound case for them. Any day of the week, that’ll beat, “Well, here are my designs. Ain’t they purdy?”

Next up, we’ll be addressing the audience, also known as your client’s end customer.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

Over the past few posts, I’ve written about getting to know your prospect and their marketing environment. The more knowledge you have about them and their industry, competition and customers, the better your position will be to truly demonstrate your value and communicate why your solution is the bee’s knees.

This will be a three part series about how to go about gathering this insightful info. We’ll start with the prospect. Next comes industry research. Finally, we’ll wrap up with the end customer and put all the pieces together.

One Mouth. Two Ears.
In a brilliant flash of intuition, it’s becomes apparent that this quest for knowledge begins with the prospect. Without one of those, there’s no need for the rest. Well … okay … that’s not entirely true. You could start backwards and focus on learning about an industry and its customers. Then you can share some of your investigative results with prospects in that industry. For instance, you might write a white paper about why customers buy more widget in blue packaging than red. Then, get the report out to prospect by mail, email, etc. Even better, have them contact you to get the report.

Alas, I digress. When having an information gathering session with a prospect, it’s important to listen more that you talk. Which, of course, is why humans typically have one mouth and two ears. It’s easy to lose sight of this and start yapping a mile a minute, barely letting your prospect get a word in edgewise.

Play 20 Questions
Before your meeting, whether by phone or face-to-face, prepare your agenda. A questionnaire is a handy tool and will keep you on track so you don’t forget to ask critical questions. Referring to a paper questionnaire also makes you look a wee bit more professional and subtly shows that you have a standard process in place. As luck would have it, BoDo’s sister site, Creative Latitude, has a few handy dandy questionnaires ready-made for you. Or, use them as a jumping off point to develop your own questionnaire.

There are primarily two types of questions – open-ended and closed-ended. Open-ended questions require that the person do some thinking and answer with their own words. Often several of them. Closed-ended questions are succinct. Answers are predetermined responses such as “yes,” or “no.”

For the purpose of your Sherlock Holmes efforts, you’ll want to focus open-ended questions. They require some thought which [hopefully] yields more insight and depth. But, you’ll also want to add a touch of the closed variety here and there.

For example, you might ask, “Do you interact with your customers directly?” That’s pretty much a closed-ended, “yes,” or “no.” Not much info there. So, follow up with an open-ended question like, “How do you do that?” Now we’re getting somewhere.

Just the fact, M’am
Now that we have our questioning style down, what do we ask? To really get to know a company, you’ll, obviously, want to learn about its products and/or services. You’ll also need to find out who their key customers are; if they have any relevant market research in place; who their ideal customer is and what’s important to them; what trade publications are important … and if you can borrow some copies. You’ll also want to dig into the company’s management and culture. Are they stuffy and conservative? Hip and jazzy? Wild and crazy or, perhaps, somewhere in between. This will help you target your presentation style and also the form your solutions take on down the road.

Beyond these, you want to learn about their where they’ve been, where they want to go and why. What have been their biggest challenges? How are they perceived in the marketplace and is that how they want to be perceived?

These ideas should help get you going and are hopefully a springboard for other types of information you can gather. The more you learn, the better off you’ll be, the better your solutions will be and the more valuable you’ll become to your prospect.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt