Get your hands dirty!

When was the last time you personally did any did any prospect/customer research? Not commissioned research, not read a summary of research, but actually did the research yourself? I know you have a ton of other things to do, but if you haven’t participated in any research in the past twelve months (and I’ll bet you haven’t), then you’re really missing an opportunity. To quote John Frank, editor of the American Marketing Association’s marketingnews: “It’s much too easy in marketing to just be looking from the inside out to what you think customers want and/or need.”

Authorities and pundits are pretty well agreed that significant advances in new product development or substantive competitive advantages won’t come from just asking prospects/customers what they want. Great new products and real competitive advantages come from insights into the attitudes and motivations of your target market, as observed from their behavior. And if it is hard for people to come up with those insights from direct observation, imagine how much more difficult it is to come up with them by simply reading research data and summaries!

I don’t know about you, but there have been times in my career when I’ve commissioned important research, then because of the pressure of other responsibilities, never looked at the actual data gathered, but simply read the executive summary. (How many of you have interview CDs or DVDs of prospect/consumer interviews sitting in a drawer that you’ve never listened to or watched?)

It’s a rare report that can communicate all the non-verbal cues that direct observation reveals—the emotion in someone’s voice, or the passion implicit in their body language. How often do you actually use your product: cook and eat the food item you make, or apply for your insurance policy online, or ride the bicycle you manufacture? How often do you watch someone else do it? There is no substitute for first hand experience and observation! Lots of things can be safely delegated. This one can’t. Or at least this one shouldn’t be.

No one says you have to design your own research or schedule your own interviews. Let your marketing research department or supplier create the questionnaire and handle the administrative details. But you should be there—at least once in a while. Because if you aren’t, you’re missing a golden opportunity to come up with the insights that you are uniquely qualified to find.