Analytics or intuition? What’s most important? There’s a spirited debate around this question. Are the big data and analytical “quants" really going to rule the new world? Or, will the more intuitive and creative types offer leading companies the competitive edge? A quick review of three independent surveys across thousands of companies yields this answer: analytics is your winner. Let’s take a look at our three sources: Bain & Company, MIT Sloan Management Review, and the Product Development Institute (related to Stage-Gate International).

Are you losing millions of dollars as your term life policies lapse at PLT?

At this year’s 2013 TSE Services Member Satisfaction Summit we heard how electric utility cooperative members use customer satisfaction research to more fully engage with consumers and improve their products and services. Member engagement, member satisfaction and best practices were trending topics for speakers at the summit as different cooperatives shared the challenges they face and how those issues are being resolved. Here's what some companies are saying about customer satisfaction research:

After attending the 2013 EMACS and my 5th Chartwell conference, the trending strategies for utilities is becoming clear: Listen. Connect. Understand. Participants at the conference show us how they're doing this: Listening leads to better business.

If you have been a silent advocate for all the benefits that market research (MR) can bring to your company, then we’re here to help you find your voice. Our Ultimate Guide to Proving Your Market Research ROI brings research to the forefront as a key player in achieving business objectives, optimizing strategies, and—most importantly—improving return on investment (ROI).

What it is An Exploratory Data Analysis, or EDA, is an exhaustive look at existing data from current and historical surveys conducted by a company.

We often use SPSS or R tables to conduct hypothesis testing—also known as testing for statistical significance—between means.  These outputs generally provide t-test results, and in SPSS at least, produce a little alphabetical footnote when a difference is statistically significant.   It’s quick and easy, but the problem is that it’s wrong.  Even using the Bonferroni adjustment (which compensates for the fact that there are more than 2 groups being compared), it will commit Type II errors (it says something is not significant when it is) as well as the more common Type I errors (saying something is significant when it’s not).  So what do we do?

In the first 2 installments of this 3-part series, we made the case that market research return on invest (MR ROI) can be boosted by asking 5 key questions at the outset of a project and using action standards and benchmarks.

As we discussed in part 1 in this blog series (Market Research ROI: 5 Questions to Make Your MR Pay Off), market research, like any investment in information, should demonstrate a clear return on investment (ROI).  

We are often asked how much study sample is needed when clients work with us to design a study. This question can be definitely answered with 2 other questions: