Let’s face it. A lot of completing any market research project is drudge work. Programming, quality checking, and sample acquisition are all critical, and you have to do them to get to the all-important analysis, reporting, and delivery. But, for most market researchers, they are not fun or even especially interesting.
That’s not to say that these aren’t areas that require expertise. But it doesn’t have to be your expertise.
Behind the Scenes, Before the Analysis
Outsourced operations companies work with agency and corporate market researchers who typically handle their projects in-house. They step in when the research staff needs more expertise, special skills, software tool access, or just more time. The outsourced operations team gives the in-house team more time to focus on developing insights, solving business problems, and keeping their clients satisfied instead of worrying about market research minutiae.
Specifically, market researchers working with an outsourced operations team receive these benefits:
- Save time/money. Back-end market research project management takes time. Depending on the project complexity, it might take a lot of time. Time you could spend delivering insights and serving your clients. Outsourced operations companies handle the minutiae to free up your time. What is the opportunity cost of programming a survey yourself? How would you make better use of your time? What would you rather be doing?
- Less aggravation. Your outsourced operations partner will deliver better customer serviceThat is because unless they are client-oriented, work to make your life easier, and to ensure your satisfaction, you won’t return. Their survival depends on making sure you want to work with them again.
- Better sample. Sampling is currently one of the major challenges for anyone in market research. A myriad of sample providers, with variable quality, the existence of bots and other technological threats to panel quality, “professional” survey-takers and great reluctance on the part of potential respondents make finding a representative sample extremely difficult. An outsourced operations partner who does not maintain a proprietary panel must get to know and have relationships with many sample providers to meet their clients’ needs. Additionally, they have advanced fraud and quality checks in their data cleaning. For example, an additional 30% of the potential respondents Research Results receives from their sample partners are cleaned out of the sample before they receive the survey.
- Access more talent. If the thought of programming a conjoint analysis or a MaxDiff fills you with trepidation, outsourced operations are for you. These companies have experts with deep experience in all kinds of advanced analytics. They will help you design the survey, complete the analysis, and even explain the results to you to ensure you get it perfectly. This is truly the best of all worlds for DIY market research.
- Access MR tools without paying for the license. Many software platforms and tools are available for market research, some with specialized capabilities. However, most agencies and corporate market research teams only have access to one, or at best, a few of these programs. Not so with outsourced operations! They have a license and expertise in using whatever software program you need for your market research project. And if you want to program it yourself, you can access the tool at your outsourced operations partner without paying for the license yourself.
Outsourced operations partners do everything you can’t or don’t want to do in completing your market research projects. In that way, they help you magnify your capabilities and your time. That results in better insights for you, your company, and your clients. Don’t you owe it to yourself to check out outsourced operations resources?
Research Results is the operational team you wish you had. Contact us today to see how we can save you time, money, and aggravation!