“Knowing your onions”. I love this expression. When you know your onions, you know your stuff, and not only that, you know your stuff on many levels, or should I say layers. No matter how many layers are peeled back there’s vast knowledge in each layer. And that knowledge is applied consummately to succeed in business.
You can “know your onions” in many walks of life. Take marketing for example, and more specifically market research … the knowledge informant. Never has it been more relevant to ‘know’ what’s going, especially in these four key areas:
- To know your customers
- To know your market
- To know your products/service
- To know your team
Because when you know each of these areas in depth then you can quite rightly claim to be a successful connoisseur (of onions or otherwise).
And so I got to wondering just how many companies used market research to understand these four crucial layers in depth. And just how many are using the vital information gleaned from this knowledge to inform and direct their businesses.
In the spirit of knowing my onions, I did a quick poll. Before sharing the results, here’s a reminder of some of the benefits of using market research.
It can help:
- Keep customers/ increase customer retention
- Find new market and product opportunities
- Understand how your customers and prospects shop
- Forecast business trends
- Launching a new product
- Keep up with the changing nature of customer needs
- Uncover why customers are defecting
- Plan effective strategies for marketing to specific segments
- Inform the marketing mix to give direction and ensure budgets are spent efficiently
- Understand future customer expectations
- Differentiate a brand
- Recognise engagement levels within the team
These are fundamentals for any business so I was keen to find out what was shaping decisions. The results astounded me.
82% of the companies I asked had not conducted any research in the last 12 months. Blimey, I thought, it seems that many business critical decisions are being made on assumptions. Why is that?
My poll told me that there were some underlying reasons that were influencing the decisions to use market research.
The main areas revolved around some false perceptions. There is a perception that market research is expensive. It doesn’t have to be. Nor is market research reserved for multi million pound companies, large brands or businesses that sell purely to consumers. Market research is affordable (and valuable) for all types of organisations.
Neither should market research be a one off process. The one thing that is certain in any business climate, is change. The landscape changes as competitors and new entrants vie for business. The needs of the customers are ever changing, and the market in which we operate is constantly morphing. Successful businesses monitor these changes and adapt their strategies to suit.
I summarise it as understanding what your team, your customers and markets think, feel and do. There are a number of ways market research professionals use find this information. These can include focus groups (for in-depth opinion), individual interviews, surveys, observing, accompanied shops, and desk research. A market research professional will work with your objectives and advise in an easy to understand way the best method to achieve your goals. They will analyse the data and provide a clear report of conclusions and recommendations. All worth their weight, in well, golden onions.
So where do you stand in terms of knowing your market research onions? Here’s my question? … Has your company undertaken any market research in the last 12 months? Yes / No
If the answer is ‘yes’ great, well done. What was the main benefit? And when will you do it again?
If the answer is ‘no’ then take a few minutes to look at the benefits earlier in the piece and think about how you could apply research to help you in any of these areas.
Market research is a business’ friend, and it’s an asset. Relish knowing your ‘onions’.
Karen Lambert is an experienced strategic marketer and Managing Director of Happy Creative, a strategic marketing and branding agency based in Lancashire, North West England. To learn more please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
