There’s Value In Making SMART Decisions

Market research isn’t all about identifying customers. In fact, the better and more rounded the market research available to managers, the better the decisions that wind up being made in the C-Suite.

Timely market research can effect everything from the way you treat new customers to the way you work on building stronger relationships with existing ones. Martin Oetting, a leading consultant with Mementic Minds in Berlin, Germany explains:

“To me, market research always should be a double-sided coin. First object: learn, learn, learn. Second objective: use it for VIP treatment of specific customers. Include them in the process, make them see how valuable their input is and let them witness their input in action.”

“Again, it’s empowerment. That’s what will make them spread the word. In the end, research can also lead to amazing communications efforts.”

Simply put, brand value – the difference between selling on price alone and on the perception that your product is worth more than the competition – depends on your ability to set the customers’ expectations and then meet those expectations. The only way you can possibly know where you stand is to do the research and ask the questions.

In practical terms, though, owners and managers of companies often have to focus their time in just one or two key areas in order to have enough time to do what they do best (be it selling, production, research and development, whatever). If that’s the situation you’re facing, we suggest you consider taking the time required to create a SMART Report (Strategic MARket Touchpoint Report) and make it a shared responsibility among all of your managers and key employees.

Here’s how you do it:

1) Identify your strategic market touchpoints:

a. Identify your key, strategic priorities and how you’ll be able to tell when something happens that effects them;

b. Identify your key competitors and the products (or services) they provide that are your biggest threats;

c. Work with your financial advisors to establish a consistent method for measuring/monitoring client activity and profitability.

2) Set aside time for a one-time meeting with key staff and delegate the responsibility of providing their SMART Report - a one-page summary covering their part of each of these priority areas. Make the reports due the same time every week (once a week, daily, whatever) and make it clear that compliance is an expectation of their job performance.

3) Make time once a week to review the SMART Reports, write your thoughts and decisions right on the report and then provide this feedback to the person providing the report immediately.

4) Make time once a month to spend some time with customers and test the findings reported in the SMART Reports – then provide feedback to the key staff responsible for generating the report and discuss the findings.

This recommendation puts you, as the owner/manager of a business, in an important position – when reviewing and commenting on SMART Reports, you’re spending critical time working ON your business rather than IN it. The objective afforded to you by looking at these reports on a regular basis will allow you to work with your key staff to make better, more informed decisions based on fact rather than rash decisions based on individual opinion or short-sighted perspective.

Getting SMART can go a long way to help your business.

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