Market survey–where you actually speak to members of yourtarget audience–are an important part of market research. You canchoose to hire a company to do it for you, but conducting theinterviews yourself will most likely give you a much better idea ofthe needs of your target audience and will provide you withinsights that you might not otherwise have gleaned.
If you’re going the do-it-yourself route, you’ll probably wantto act as the focus group moderator. As the moderator, you’ll wantto encourage an open-ended flow of conversation and be sure tosolicit comments from quieter members, or you may end up gettingall your information from the talkative participants only. Also,when conducting any type of survey, whether it’s a focus group, aquestionnaire or a phone survey, pay particular attention tocustomers who complain or give you negative feedback. You don’tneed to worry about the customers who love your product or service,but the ones who tell you where you’re going wrong provide valuableinformation to help you improve.
Telephone interviews: This is an inexpensive, fast way toget information from potential customers. Prepare a script beforemaking the calls to ensure you cover all your objectives. Mostpeople don’t like to spend a lot of time on the phone, so keep yourquestions simple, clearly worded and brief. If you don’t have timeto make the calls yourself, hire college students to do it foryou.
Direct-mail interviews: If you want to survey a wideraudience, direct mail can be just the ticket. Your survey can be assimple as a postcard or as elaborate as a cover letter,questionnaire and reply envelope. Keep questionnaires to a maximumof one page, and ask no more than 20 questions. Ideally,direct-mail surveys should be simple, structured with “yes/no” or”agree/disagree” check-off boxes so respondents can answer quicklyand easily. If possible, only ask for one or two write-in answersat most.
Fax/e-mail interviews: Many of the principles used indirect-mail interviews also apply to these surveys. One exception:Never send an unsolicited fax that is more than one page. Giveclear instructions on how to respond, and be appreciative inadvance for the data you get back.
