Market Research in B2B environments is just as important as in B2C situations but is often forgotten or bypassed on the basis of hearsay, individual customer or sales input, myths and legends, and stories having been around in a business for many years. Often these beliefs about customers and what they want cannot be substantiated factually and, in many situations, they are out of date as markets, technology and customers have progressed.
Secondary market research (where there is published information or information is compiled and organised) is usually the starting point for understanding markets, growth rates, competitors and client requirements. More often than not, for most businesses, this is only a partial solution, If you are looking at FMCG, Grocery retail, Food production, Automotive and similar then there may be a lot of public domain data available. For most companies this isn’t the case and further work is required to extract meaningful information and conclusions.
Much useful and actionable information comes from Primary Market Research which means talking to, interviewing and researching your clients and channels to extract the necessary data and insights. To do this the market research has to be well planned, funded adequately and take account of segmentation, variances and other issues to ensure that the correct results are interpreted.If you need help planning your market research or understanding your market, customers and / or competitors than please contact us…
