How do you measure the value in conducting a market intelligence exercise?
Putting a dollar figure on it is possible, but tricky. It involves creating a trendline for gross profit (GP) in a given period, then comparing that to GP in the measurement period after the recommendations from market intelligence have been implemented. The difference can be extrapolated to be a measure of the Return on Investment, bearing in mind that there are other variables in play at the same time.
In reality, few companies undertake this measure, because they understand implicitly the value of knowing the answers to critical, market-focused questions. The cost of undertaking the measurement to prove there was a positive ROI outweighs the benefit of confirming that it was a good idea.
Then, there are other payoffs that are harder to price. We frequently (read: always) find that there is a net positive effect from executing market intelligence-gathering. The payoffs are:
Testimonials:
Although we want to talk to a range of customers and some will have a poor opinion of the company (these are some of your best sources for actionable intelligence, by the way) there will also be a selection that are evangelists and prepared to put their name to a written or video testimonial. The payoff from this social proof is hard to measure, but self-evident. When was the last time you bought a product or service online without reading some of the customer feedback about it?
New Sales:
You may have heard the oft-quoted statistic “68% of customers leave not because they were unsatisfied with the product or service, but because of perceived indifference from your company”. It has been around in one form or another since at least 1997. Even in the best-run companies, customers can still sometimes feel like a cog in the machine. Asking their opinions creates a brand new feeling of engagement with our clients and we have often seen it drive new sales or referrals, all by itself.
Research becomes Sales Campaign:
For market entry studies, we have often been able to combine a successful research effort with the commencement of a follow-on sales campaign. In other words, we have gathered intelligence relevant to a whole market but then also captured specific leads for the business development team of our clients to follow-up. The value of those sales has more than paid for the research effort in the first place.
To discuss how market intelligence could pay off for your company, call us on 1300 36 20 27 or submit this form.
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