Get rid of the sales pitch: use your qualitative skills to win new business

DWG Admin on November 13, 2018

As qualitative researchers it’s our job to understand and interpret people, to find out their thoughts and feelings, and to understand why they do the things they do. Although often overlooked, this ability to relate with people and understand them is also essential to business development and dare we say it, sales. Potential clients don’t necessarily want a generic business pitch from you, and instead want to know that you understand their business needs and care about solving their problems. There are plenty of ways to connect with and nurture a new business lead without a pitch and luckily for you, these are all innate in the skill set of a qualitative researcher.

Listen and empathize

Sometimes, the best way to communicate that you care is simply by listening. Paying attention to your potential client’s needs helps to show your dedication to helping them and will help you prove that you understand them in the long run. The information that you gain by listening will give you a head-start in a competitive pitch, as you can target your offering to their specific needs and increase your relevancy to their business.

Be curious and open-minded

As qualitative researchers you should always be driven to find the deepest insights. This is no different when meeting and interacting with a new business lead. Your curious mind should lead you to ask lots of questions, to get to the root of a problem and figure out how you can help them best. Like listening, asking questions will show your interest in their problems and will therefore indicate that you care.

Thought leadership

Thought leadership is as important for generating business leads as it is for nurturing them. Establishing your expertise in your field is an easy way for you to initially attract potential clients and build their trust as they gain confidence in your proficiency. There are multiple simple ways to portray thought leadership. Writing blogs for your website and creating downloadable whitepapers and e-books on topics that are relevant to your industry will show that you are a leader in your field and are committed to the overall success of the industry, rather than just your own financial gain. Thought leadership can also be achieved through content marketing, PR and presentations at conferences.

Context

Although as qualitative researchers you’re part of the market research industry, it’s also important to show a potential client your knowledge of the wider business context that is relevant to them. While proving qualitative research skills and abilities is obviously essential for gaining new business, you can stand out from competitors by asserting your knowledge specific to their field that will show you understand their business needs in context.

Collaboration

While qualitative researchers collaborate all the time, it is also a crucial term to consider when interacting with a new business lead. Collaboration implies working together as equals to achieve a goal. This implies that you gain equally from the relationship and are therefore equally as invested in the results. You can read more about using the right terminology to describe your relationship with a client in our previous blog.

Generating new business is important for any company to survive and thrive, so it’s easy to get caught up in the process and forget the humanity of the people behind the business you’re trying to attract. Exhibiting your knowledge and expertise and indicating your genuine care for the company’s business needs is a far more attractive offer than a generic business pitch which does little to personalize their experience of your offering. As qualitative researchers you’re not strangers to human interaction, so use your innate qual skills to get the best out of your business development.

Partners not vendors

DWG Admin on November 8, 2018

When interacting with clients it’s important to use the right terminology to describe the relationship you have with them. Using the wrong word risks devaluing the work you do together, making the valuable contributions you bring seem unimportant. Describing yourself as a ‘supplier’ or ‘vendor’ can be interpreted to have this effect.

Recent articles on Quirk’s have highlighted this debate. Brooks Deaton, Senior Director at Consumer Insights at NASCAR, recently wrote: ‘“Vendor” feels cheap. It reminds me of a baseball game where I’m buying a hot dog and, more than likely, a beer. It is a transaction that doesn’t require much thought and represents something generic in exchange for money.’ From the agency side, Isabelle Albanese, President at Consumer Truth wrote: ‘I don’t supply – I contribute. And my contributions are considered to be a valuable part of the relationship, unique and constructive.’

Terms such as ‘vendor’ imply speed and ease and while these aren’t necessarily bad qualities, it’s questionable as to whether these are the most important things you want to get across to potential clients. What about the meaningful work you do to add value to their business and your relationship with them? Is that not something you want to illustrate up front, before mentioning how fast your work is? Terms such as ‘partner’, on the other hand, imply a consistently strong level of commitment that reflects hard work and honesty on both sides. It suggests a long-term effort to produce a positive impact, rather than the ‘use once, throw away’ attitude which can be deduced from ‘vendor’ or ‘supplier’. What you give to a client is worth reflecting in the name you give yourself. As Isabelle Albanese said, you ‘contribute’ to your clients to add value to the research process, so why degrade your contributions with a demeaning title?

Your aim as a qualitative researcher is to understand people, and a term such as ‘vendor’ does not imply any level of comprehension either of consumers and customers or of your clients as a business or as individuals. It does not imply that you’ve given up any time to appreciate their offering. As Brooks said, ‘vendor’ and ‘supplier’ imply sales, and a cheap, quick and easy transaction at that. We have written previously [insert link] about why you should get rid of the business pitch and gain new business through thought leadership, and relating to people through honest and approachable conversation. Referring to yourself as a partner and collaborating with a client as a partnership is essential for this.

Finally, Brooks Deaton said in his Quirk’s article that when he sees agencies describing themselves as ‘vendors’ he believes it cheapens the valuable work they do. That this terminology is ultimately off putting to the clients it’s meant to attract raises a clear problem. Calling yourself a ‘partner’ will emphasize the confidence you have in your company’s ability. It’s not worth risking losing new business prospects before they’ve even fully checked out your offering, simply because you’ve chosen the wrong word to describe yourself.

IDG Overview – L&E Tech Partner On-Demand Webinar Series

DWG Admin on November 2, 2018

Following our webinar on emerging technologies within qualitative research we wanted to share our on-demand webinars and highlights of each of our technology partners. We are continuing on with Informed Decisions Group (IDG) and Renee Wyckoff’s (our Research Design Engineer) summary of how they offer the virtual wall, a portable system that you can take almost anywhere in the world to create an in-store experience.

Informed Decisions Group’s (IDG) Virtual Aisle is a truly remarkable interactive market research tool! The Virtual Aisle is portable and can be shipped and set up anywhere in the world for researchers to create a life sized, in-store experience anywhere they like! Using eye-tracking in conjunction with qualitative interviews, IDG can extract immediate insights from shoppers’ interactions with the aisle.

With the integration of quantitative data, from mobile eye-tracking, and qualitative insights from follow up interviews and shop-a-longs, shelf and packaging decisions can be made quickly and effectively.

Some of the featured of IDG’s Virtual Aisle –

6 x 10 foot portable screens for life sized, scaled projections
Ability to project high resolution images that are 4x HD and up to 9.8 mega pixels
Rear projection to eliminate shadows
Ability to simultaneously test design options and easily modify stimuli
Faster results than in-market testing
Identify lead design options to test in further quantitative research or in-market testing

Additional features and tools, but not limited to –

Interactive Virtual Aisle
Package diagnostics with stationary eye-tracking/online webcam eye-tracking
Menu board testing & optimization
Biometric tools, mobile EEG and micro-expression coding

For a more in depth overview of IDG and their capabilities, watch our on-demand tech webinar by clicking here!

Renee’s Takeaways – Get the scoop on L&E’s Tech Webinar!

DWG Admin on October 10, 2018

Webinar Series Summary

Emerging Methods in Qualitative Research Technology Webinar – Webinar held on September 18, 2018

I have to say, this was definitely our most entertaining webinar to date! We laughed a lot, and even had one of our panelists sing briefly! In this next webinar in our series, focusing on Emerging Methods in Qual Technology, we got to spend some time with two very engaging experts in our industry. First up, Charlie Rader, Digital Insights Designer at Procter & Gamble. Then, someone a lot of us already know very well, Lenny Murphy, Executive Editor & Producer at GreenBook.

In this webinar, we focused on Q&A based around Qualitative Research Technology, how it can be applied, and technologies that are up and coming in the industry.

Here’s what our panelists had to say!

We started off coming right out of the gate with a big one. We asked our panelists, in their experiences, with all of the new technologies out there now, which has recently made the most impact on how we do research?

Online qual! We discussed how now with online, we are able to expand our reach to people that we may not have been able to reach before, due to not being in the vicinity of a facility, or in a major market.
We talked about how we get to capture those true “in the moment” experiences with respondents using an online platform.
The integration of digital, and all that entails. Such as automation for recruiting, and new ways to engage with consumers.

Next, we asked Charlie specifically, if there are any technologies that P&G is using or evaluating right now.

P&G actually built their own video analytics tool! “However, now with tech partners like LivingLens, we can use video to transform the way we talk to consumers.”
“We’re using mobile diaries. By doing this, we’re doing research that is more behaviorally based, rather than attitudinal.”

Then we asked both Charlie and Lenny if they knew of any technologies that were in their infancy right now, that they see making a big impact on qual down the road.

The use of video, while not quite in its infancy, we’re not quite tapping into the benefits of the analytics that we can get from it.
AI, and the impact that it is bringing to many qual technologies, such as being able to take mountains of unstructured data, whether its text or video, and having a machine be able to sort through that.

We also asked if there are any technologies that are just plain underutilized.

The use of mobile, and being “in the moment” with the consumer.
The use of a qual board online platform such as Aha!, or 20/20. Start small with a homework assignment or exercise, before you meet the consumer in person, to gain a deeper understanding of what they are trying to tell you.
Data management tools, such as Knowledge Hound. We can utilize information that we have learned before, so that going into primary research, we can ask more intelligent questions.

We then asked if there are any technologies on the horizon, not currently being used for qual, that could be applied in some way in the future.

AR and VR, and the reason is that they are not scalable. That will change, as the devices we all carry on us today, such as our mobile, all have the capability to leverage augmented reality.
We’re a little early in the hype cycle for AR and VR, but it’s something we need to understand better and start experimenting with.

Lastly, we asked our panelists how some of the newer technologies are changing the way we analyze data.

Definitely the AI component. It enables us to ingest and organize data more efficiently than we’ve ever been able to.
Some of the tools that make visualizing and reporting the data a bit more interesting than the long used PowerPoint, such as Prezi, and Microsoft Sway. There is so much that we respond to visually as humans, than just tables of data.

We hope you found this summary to be helpful! If you didn’t register for this webinar you can listen to this webinar in its entirety, or download a free, transcribed version by clicking here.

Be on the lookout for our next webinar, which will be November 14, 2018 at 12pm EST. If you can’t wait until then, you can always view our on-demand webinars and learn about the latest technology solutions. Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog so you can keep up with what is happening at L&E!

Until next time!

Your Research Design Engineer at L&E,

Renee Wyckoff

Isobar Overview – L&E Tech Partner On-Demand Webinar Series

DWG Admin on October 9, 2018

Following our webinar on emerging technologies within qualitative research we wanted to share our on-demand webinars and highlights of each of our technology partners. We are continuing on with Mindsight Direct by Isobar and Renee Wyckoff’s (our Research Design Engineer) summary of how this powerful tool shows what unlocks the motivations behind every consumer choice.

MindSight Direct by Isobar is an interactive emotional market research platform that can not only tell you what consumers are saying, but how they are feeling! It can even tell you what consumers will not say, or cannot seem to put into words by measuring their emotional response. Since decisions about products and services are made based on rational and emotional drivers, we need to know both in order to turn the information collected into actionable results.

MindSight is unique in the sense that it takes advantage of the emotional discovery window by utilizing rapid response image selection. This technique gets right to the emotional experience, mere milliseconds before rational thought has a chance to pop in.

Features of Mindsight Direct
• Respondents engage in the MindSight exercise as a “sentence completion” task
• Reponses are coded into the MindSight Emotional Profice
• After images are collected, words are then collected to determine which are associated most with the images
• MindSight can be used for a variety of testing needs – category exploration, package and product testing, brand assessment, ad testing, website testing, etc.

For a more in depth overview of Mindsight Direct by Isobar and their capabilities, watch our on-demand tech webinar by clicking here!

Aha! Overview – L&E Tech Partner On-Demand Webinar Series

DWG Admin on September 25, 2018

Following our webinar on emerging technologies within qualitative research we wanted to share our on-demand webinars and highlights of each of our technology partners. We are continuing on with Aha! and Renee Wyckoff’s (our Research Design Engineer) summary of how this interactive asynchronous online qual platform can be utilized in several different ways for just about any type of qual, and sometimes quant research.

Aha! is an interactive asynchronous online qual platform that can be utilized in several different ways for just about any type of qual, and sometimes quant research. Just one of the benefits is that it can be set up and launched DIY style with an extremely user friendly platform, or Aha! can take the reins from the start and supply study design, programming, recruiting, project management, end of study analysis, and more.

Aha! creates interesting activities and exercises based on a client’s specifications that are both fun, and insightful, with keeping respondents engaged as a top priority! Clients can interact with respondents either one on one, or in a community setting. Respondents can participate in whichever way is convenient for them, either via mobile device or home based device. Another way to keep them engaged!

Just some of the ways that Aha! can be utilized –

Pre-focus group homework assignments
Multi-day qualitative studies
Custom created studies, both qual and quant, the possibilities are endless!

Interesting and fun activities for engaging respondents –

Guided storytelling, prompts respondents to share their thoughts and feelings
Creative collage tool, respondents can import their own images and words, or choose from pre-selected sets to describe how they feel about something
Perceptual mapping tool, respondents can map out how they perceive brands or experiences
Journey mapping, respondent can create a collage based on a specific topic
Fill in the blanks, a digital “mad libs” if you will!
Video and image uploads via multiple devices
Video/Mobile diaries
Concept testing, clients can post videos and images for respondent feedback
Pinboards, a social, collaborative environment where respondents can post videos, images, or words based on a specific subject or task
Wishing wall, respondents post wishes and what they like prompted by sentence starters

For a more in depth overview of Aha! and their capabilities, watch our on-demand tech webinar by clicking here!

Webinar | L&E Webinar Series: Emerging Methods in Qualitative Research Technology

DWG Admin on September 25, 2018

Free on-demand L&E Webinar

On September 18, 2018, L&E hosted our fourth webinar in our webinar series for 2018 with Charlie Rader and Lenny Murphy as our panelists. The topic of this webinar was on the latest technologies in qualitative research.

Guest Speakers:

Charlie Rader, Digital Insights Designer at Procter & Gamble
Lenny Murphy, Executive Editor & Producer at GreenBook

Technology is bringing researchers, stakeholders and brands closer than ever to their consumers.

Small consultative researchers and corporate researchers alike need to provide the same impact from their research. Now, no matter the magnitude of your project or depth of your team, you can provide the same actionable insight with support from new qualitative research technology.

This webinar will:

Guide you through key areas that are becoming increasingly powerful in accessing high quality insight such as:

Neuromarketing
Virtual reality
360° streaming
Video analytics
In-the-moment online tools

Learn about some of the top companies taking advantage of key technology in qualitative research

Focus Forward Overview – L&E Tech Partner On-Demand Webinar Series

DWG Admin on September 21, 2018

Following our webinar on emerging technologies within qualitative research we wanted to share our on-demand webinars and highlights of each of our technology partners. We are continuing on with Focus Forward and Renee Wyckoff’s (our Research Design Engineer) summary of how they offer an online transcription portal and keyword search so you can identify themes for reporting.

L&E Transcription services, powered by Focus Forward is a comprehensive transcription service that will work with your specific needs and budget in mind. L&E Transcription has several different levels of service to suit the desired outcome.

Some of the features of L&E Transcription Services –

Speed and quality of service compared to price
Audio is transcribed via “segmentation” technology to result in quality transcripts, faster
Offered in all L&E locations
Future API to L&E Streaming service that will tie transcription and streaming services into one user friendly system

L&E 360° Camera

L&E 360° camera is the latest in focus group camera technology!

Still hardware at the center of the table with multiple lenses to provide an unobtrusive camera feed without distraction
Audio highlights the speaker, as participants share, the camera zooms in on that speaker to provide close-up imagery. Facial expressions and body language captured in HD quality
Camera clearly picks up participant sharing, such as pictures, homework assignments or other stimuli

For a more in depth overview of Focus Forward and their capabilities, watch our on-demand tech webinar by clicking here!

Emerging Methods in Qualitative Research Technology | New White Paper from L&E

DWG Admin on September 7, 2018

Emerging Methods in Qualitative Research Technology

Landing a full 360 view of the consumer

White Paper Download

Technology is bringing researchers, stakeholders and brands closer than ever to their consumers.

This paper will guide you through the following key areas that are becoming increasingly powerful in accessing high quality insight.

Neuromarketing
Virtual reality
360° streaming
Video analytics
In-the-moment online tools

But who can you trust with your data? In this paper we also identify some of the top companies taking advantage of key technology in qualitative research.

To continue reading, download our latest white paper by clicking here (no form to fill out).

LivingLens Overview – L&E Tech Partner On-Demand Webinar Series

DWG Admin on August 8, 2018

In anticipation of our upcoming webinar on emerging technologies within qualitative research we wanted to share our on-demand webinars and highlights of each of our technology partners. We are kicking things off with LivingLens and Renee Wyckoff’s (our Research Design Engineer) summary of how this powerful video tool incorporates speech to text analytics to help qualitative researchers turn video uploaded by respondents into actionable insights!

How does LivingLens work?

Easy to use central dashboard for managing uploaded videos
Multiple ways to search your video content, such as, but not limited to:
- Word cloud for frequency of mentions in text
- Filter by survey responses, demographic data, etc.
- Text search via human or machine transcriptions on the platform
Create clips from multiple video sources
Easy to use client analytics model to assist in understanding content on an aggregated level
Key theme word cloud across all video content

Clickable charts to take you directly to the relevant video content

Transcript export capabilities

For a more in depth overview of LivingLens and their capabilities, watch our on-demand tech webinar by clicking here!