Susan, an accountant who owns a successful local practice, wanted a partner so that she could gradually retire. Though Susan knew many other accountants, she was uncertain which, if any, would be good partner material.

Susan turned to Donna Fox, Managing Director of Cranford-based Fox Resources, for help. Donna researched the local competition, developed partnership criteria and a list of potential partners. Susan interviewed several prospects from the list, and found one that was a good fit for her practice.

Many business owners, like Susan, face challenges and can benefit from using market research to gain the insights they need. According to Fox, “market research can help you learn the landscape. It can help you understand the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of your market and industry.”

While major corporations can spend thousands of dollars to run focus groups, competitive studies, face-to-face interviews and professional surveys, businesses with considerably smaller budgets can also use market research to gain valuable insights.

You have to be clear on what you want, says Fox. “For market research to be most cost effective, business owners need to know specifically what questions they want answered.”

Some of the questions Fox has researched for clients include

• What are the right sales channels for our new product?
• How does the competition price its products?
• Who are potential licensees for our new technology?
• Who should we hire as our new vice president of sales?
• How does the competition get its products to market?

Here are some ideas for getting the most value out of your market research spending:

Use free resources first. Reference librarians, the local Department of Commerce, and Small Business Development Center are great sources of information on demographics, economic trends and market forecasts. Gather and review information from these sources. Sometimes you will get the insights you need right here. If not, at least the exercise will help you frame your research questions more knowledgeably.

Review your customer records. These records contain a wealth of information about buying patterns, customer churn, product returns and customer complaints. Analyze the relevant files, and see what light they shed on your situation.

Hang out on the web. The Internet has thousands of newsgroups and discussion lists on just about any topic. Search out relevant groups and read the conversation threads for ideas that will help you build a more complete picture.

Hire an independent research consultant. All information has a shelf life, and sometimes you need to get a more current view than customer records or published studies can provide. You can hire a research consultant who has access to more in-depth industry databases and can conduct industry interviews on your behalf. Since consultants conduct research on a regular basis, they can also work more efficiently and cost effectively than you can.

A professional researcher will not waste your money on wild goose chases. Fox, for example, will usually conduct a 2-hour search first. After that time, she goes back to the client and helps them re-strategize, and reframe the research questions so that they get the end results they need.

This column originally appeared in the February 2006 edition of Union County Voice Magazine.

Ms. Kasprzak, principal of Advantage Marketing & Associates, is a certified management consultant who specializes in helping B2B clients connect with their customers to achieve greater sales revenues. She can be reached at LKasprzak@advantage-marketing.com or 908.233.6265.

Interested in republishing The Marketing Advantage?