Don’t Forget your Internal Customers
 
In previous newsletter articles we’ve discussed the benefits of conducting various types of satisfaction studies, including those that survey customers, association members, vendors, and partners.  We’ve even offered advice on implementing employee satisfaction research, as management often wants to know their staff’s attitudes and opinions on corporate policies, benefits, advancement opportunities, training and development options, supervisors, and the like.  Certainly, this is important information to drive effective programs aimed at improving employee engagement, performance, and retention.

But, as organizations strive to continually optimize processes for improved efficiencies and performance, they often overlook an area of the business – the internal service providers.  While employees in “back office” departments like legal, human resources, accounting, administrative support, and proposal development don’t typically come into direct contact with external customers, they serve others who do.  In fact, the quality of service provided by these departments is critical to the performance of those on the front lines with customers, not to mention the morale of everyone in the organization. 

For some examples, click below to read more. 
 
 
 
Complex Research Requires Expert Management
 
Oftentimes, organizations that have conducted fairly straightforward research projects, such as a stand-alone focus group or a market awareness survey of a single target audience, are caught off guard by the many intricacies and potential pitfalls of larger, more complex studies.   Unquestionably, research projects of a larger scope require more people, more time, and more funding.  And, above all, they require skilled and dedicated project managers on both the client side and at the research firm.

You’ll know you’re embarking on a more complex research program if it entails one or more of these characteristics:

  • Multiple market segments, such as defense, civilian, and state-and-local government agencies.
  • Multiple functions or titles.  Perhaps a DoD survey requires that senior military management, commanding officers in the field, and purchasing agents be surveyed.
  • Multiple research methodologies, such as focus groups and/or in-depth interviews followed by a quantitative phone survey, or a study that entails the simultaneous use of phone surveys and a web site to accommodate visual aids.
  • Multiple products and/or services.  Perhaps you need to measure awareness and preference within five different product groups – and compare your rankings to those of competitors in those groups.
Of course, the more of these characteristics your research entails, the higher the complexity level of the project.  
And, complex research projects typically result in: 
  • the need to involve and coordinate the objectives of  numerous internal stakeholders with diverse data needs
  • larger research populations
  • increased phone and/or email list challenges
  • multiple layers and branches in the survey instrument
  • more time to pre-test and to field the survey
  • more time and skills to tabulate and analyze the results
Expert project management is the key to successfully developing and executing complex research studies.  For more advice on how to manage your success, click below to read more.  
 
If you have any questions about research in general or a specific study you may be contemplating, we invite you to contact us  for some free advice. 
NEWS
Volume 5, Number 5
May 2008
 
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