Getting feedback from customers and knowing what they like or don't like about the company are things companies should know or want to know. How do you know if you're improving as a company? What areas should you improve upon? What are the common issues or concerns that customers face when they deal with your company?
One way you could go about getting the answers to these questions is by conducting a focus group. Now, I don't really have any experience with focus groups other than the one time a couple years ago when I was a participant in a group. I was curious about a couple things, so I decided to ask Frank Martin of Martin Research a few questions...
MP: I took a look at your LinkedIn profile and saw that you were an Assistant Manager for a bank before you started Martin Research. What exactly inspired you or made you decide to get into market research?
FM: My father actually started the company in 1970, and he recruited me in 1980. That decision was an easy one.
MP: In the 29 years that you’ve been in business, what would you say is the biggest mistake companies make in terms of marketing/customer service?
FM: Thinking of marketing research as a commodity, and marketing as something that a donkey could be trained to do. They don't ask the right questions, and therefore don't base their marketing decisions on the information that will be of the best use of them
MP: Which industries do you typically serve?
FM: Financial, consumer product, B to B
MP: I really liked your introduction to focus groups that you shared on your blog. What’s the most common reason companies give for wanting to conduct a focus group?
FM: That they think it's time to talk to customers and explore an issue that has been perplexing people internally, or for which there is internal disagreement regarding the "right" course of action.
MP: Malcolm Gladwell (author of "Blink" and "The Tipping Point") has argued that getting reliable data from focus groups is difficult because people sometimes don’t know or won’t admit to liking or disliking something. Furthermore, he has said that market research can only be effective when people are being tested in the same type of environment where the consumption of a product occurs. What do you think?
FM: I've read both books and liked them, but he is wrong! Like everything, it's in the way you ask the questions and in the questions you ask. He is probably basing his experience on 1) using focus groups when it's the wrong methodology, or 2) employing an inexperienced moderator, or 3) asking the wrong questions. Sigh...
Find out more about Frank Martin by reading his blog, Marketing Magic.
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