Voices: the CMB Blog

Last week CMB hosted Chris Frank and Paul Magnone, authors of Drinking from the Fire Hose, at our Boston office and invited our local clients to join us. Chris, Vice President at American Express responsible for advertising, brand, and business-to-business research, and is a long-time CMB client. Paul added the internal client perspective to the discussion, having been a consumer of research at IBM for 21 years and now heading business development and alliances at Openet. As the book’s title implies, the conversation centered on how to sort through the massive amount of data we, as researchers, are confronted with to get to that moment of truth.

As it turns out, it is not about the information, but about asking the right questions. The book outlines seven “essential questions” that will keep you focused on only the information that you need. The first question is “What is the one vital piece of information needed to move forward?” That may sound obvious, but during the discussion we heard from many of our clients that identifying and focusing on what really matters isn’t easy. The challenge is to re-focus clients on the business decisions being made. As we heard from Chris, Paul, and our clients, this requires a major effort.

Focusing not only on why you need the information but what you are going to do with it is also key. One of my favorite stories of the evening was about an internal client who was faced with the question “If the results of this research dictate it, will you close the business unit?” He retorted that if research came up with that result, then they were talking to the wrong people. With no intention of closing the business unit, it was clear he was asking for answers to questions that were not actionable.

It was interesting to hear the authors talk about what we at CMB call a “business decision focus.” At CMB we spend a great deal of time helping our clients (and their internal clients) stay focused on the decisions that they are making with the story the data tells. It was exciting to hear how that simple focus can change the paradigm.  It was a great event, and if you attended we hope you enjoyed it. If you were unable to attend, stay tuned, we’ll be posting more highlights and video of the event. And of course we recommend reading the book.

Posted by Christine Gimber. Christine is an Account Executive with the Financial Services and Healthcare teams, and loves great questions, essential or otherwise. When she is not at CMB, you can find her running or biking, which also helps keep her in shape as she tries to keep up with her three small kids.

Last week, the Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit occurred in Glendale Arizona. The Institute for International Research (IIR) hosted the event, and it featured three full days of presentations about measuring customer feedback, operationalizing it, and optimizing programs to maintain business success.  I was fortunate to chair the Action Planning track, so I enjoyed unique one-on-one discussions with the presenters in my track as I prepared to introduce and lead discussion for each of the presentations. 

One of the biggest topics at the conference was social media.  Whether it was the Social Media CRM symposium, which led off with a presentation on “Linking Social Media to Consumer Behavior” by Becky Carroll from Petra Consulting Group, the keynote speech by Jeanne Bliss from CustomerBliss, or the several presentations showing how companies have applied information captured through social media to make decisions, folks are still trying to wrap their arms around it.

My take on it: Most companies are dipping their toes in the “deep pool” of social media, and the continued interest reflects a need to assess their experience relative to other companies.  In the end, market research vendors and clients are looking to establish the process for integrating this new data and communications channel…

Two presentations from Maritz Research stood out in this regard.  Randy Brandt presented findings from recently completed research comparing Consumer Generated Media (CGM) guest ratings for a luxury hotel chain via TripAdvisor to guest ratings with ratings from a traditional direct brand solicitation for that same chain.  The results identified strong differences in data between the two channels.  It’s not a surprise, as the sample of guests providing their input via CGM is a small subset of guests (even smaller than the 15-20% who might typically respond to a brand solicitation) with a different set of motivations for sharing their opinions.  This unique apples-to-apple comparison truly demonstrates the challenges we face – as researchers - when we are asked to bring together two very different evaluation samples.

This fed nicely into the presentation by David Ensing (also from Maritz), who spoke about integrating data from multiple Voice of the Customer sources, including social media.  As David noted, research managers are now dealing with lots of information and trying to make sense of it all; and with research budgets constrained, researchers are looking at (relatively inexpensive) social media information and trying to figure out if it is useful and if so, how it is useful.  We are seeing a shift from solely one-off/ad hoc research studies to a combination of ad hoc with continuous listening, and this may strike researchers as a threat to their role.  However, it shouldn’t be that way.

David summed up his presentation with a clear opportunity for market researchers to take the lead: “We believe that the future of marketing research is not just in collecting customer feedback through surveys, but also in integrating multiple sources of company-controlled information both with each other and with new information streams, such as consumer-generated media.”

Personally, I believe the market researchers who have been successful at applying research outcomes to business decisions will find this skill to be vital in maintaining leadership and effectivenes in this new landscape.  Market researchers really need to think of themselves as people who inform internal clients who strive to make decisions to improve their business.

I find the current mass of data at everyone’s disposal can be daunting and confusing, in large part because the technologies that pull and deliver the data do a great job at just that – pulling and delivering.  Heck, most companies in the data delivery business would consider shock, awe, and confusion from massive data to be a “good thing."  To a point that's true, but they fail to translate and inform. 

This is where market researchers need to take a lead role.  As the stewards of applying research outcomes to business decisions, the skills that allow them to translate and inform will be vital in maintaining a lead role in this new landscape.  Market researchers really need to think of themselves as people who organize and give structure to all data – and then deliver information in a precise manner that informs internal clients who need the information to make business decisions. 

Posted by Jeff McKenna. Jeff is a senior consultant at CMB and a lover of the mid-west, beer, and customer satisfaction data.

You'll also find CMB'ers at The Market Research Event (TMRE). Are you planning on going to TMRE? CMB is an event sponsor and presenter at the conference. Feel free to use the code: TMRE11CMB when you register for a discounted price. We hope to see you there. Learn more about the conference here.

Did you attend the Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit? What did you think?

Nearly a year ago, my friend and long-time client Chris Frank (formerly of Microsoft, now Vice President, Global Marketplace Insights at American Express) told me he’d been approached to write a book.  Several good-natured digs and a decent steak later, I learned that Chris was serious. By the end of the meal I had been sworn to secrecy. Over the course of the last 10 months I’ve gotten a sneak peek at the title (Drinking from the Fire Hose) and its contents (based on a proof copy Chris sent me last month).  Now the book, a clarion call for smart effective data use—not just more data, is officially available for sale. The time is right for me to tell the world about it.

• I wanted to see if I could do it.

• I consider Drinking From the Fire Hose a “must read” for anyone who either uses data to make decisions, or who provides data, insight, and recommendations for decision makers to use in their decision making. 

“Fire Hose” asks researchers and decision makers to step back and siphon the jet stream of data most of us have at our fingertips, and to be parsimonious about which insights we bring to the decision makers we support to help them act confidently.  One of my favorite sections was the description of the Customer Impact Assessment (CIA).  I’ve seen versions of this standard used at most great companies with outstanding market research/consumer insights teams.  Jeff Resnick (formerly of eBay, now at Zynga) always asks the question “Okay, so who wins here and how do we make sure they know it?  Who loses here, and how do we help them win somewhere else.” It’s a great reminder of questions we should always be asking ourselves as researchers whenever we frame up recommendations. 

I’ve read some of Fire Hoses' predecessors in this “making sense of a data-driven world” genre. "Fire Hose" goes beyond the field, providing an important contrast to books like Ian Ayers' “Super Crunchers” and Stephen Baker’s “The Numerati,” books whose fascination with the amount of data obscure the importance of analysis in real world application.  While these books do fabulous jobs of describing the possible, Frank and Magnone do an equally great job prescribing what is practical.  If Ayers’ and Baker’s approach is the excitable young resident eager to make the most exotic diagnoses; Fire Hoses’ is your trusted primary care doctor who gets your diagnosis right because he understands the science of what ails you, and because he’s treated the ailment before.

Note:  I am very tempted to insert a whole slew of equally bad analogies here, but will wait until my next post.

But, who is this book for?  My guess is that most of the concepts in "Fire Hose" will feel familiar to all of us.  But that few or none of us practice all of the concepts as thoroughly and habitually as we should.  For me personally, I learned a number of new tricks.  But at least equally important, I was reminded of some key “rules” that are very familiar, but that I don’t follow as religiously as I should.  The book has left me energized and re-committed to nailing some of the fundamentals that can separate very good research from great research.  I hope you all feel the same when you read it.

Now, for those of you who prefer a more whimsical Brant, I provide the following “sneak peak” of my next Drinking from the Fire Hose blog post…

“I didn’t realize he had such kind eyes.”  That was my wife’s initial reaction when I plopped this month’s issue of the Market Research Association’s “Alert” magazine in front of my wife.  And you know what, I think she’s right.  I never expected to see a nearly life-sized photo of Chris Frank’s mug quite so close up.  But truth be told, I must admit he’s pretty photogenic.

Posted by Brant Cruz. Brant is a VP and resident segmentation guru at CMB.

Introducing “John’s Corner”

Many times the people we think of as “Thought Leaders” seem unapproachable or intimidating, especially when they’re the Chairman of the company. Here at CMB we’re lucky to have Dr. John Martin, Chairman of CMB, Co-founder of South Street Strategy, innovator, professor, mentor, and a very approachable (and often shoeless) guy.

This month we’re kicking off “John’s Corner,” a series of articles sharing John’s 30+ years of experience in research and strategy, with a conversation with Kristen, CMB’s VP of Marketing and John about the challenges researchers face in defining goals and needs.

Distinguishing Between Goals and Needs

Kristen: Often in research we try to identify and most importantly prioritize what actually motivates people to make certain decisions. Why do some choose one product or service over another? John, tell us what you see as the biggest challenge researchers face in helping companies distinguish between goals and needs?

John: I think it starts with the language we use; the language used in market research is surprisingly messy.  For example we use terms like “needs” and “wants.”  However, “needs” are often used broadly to represent several types of motivational dimensions.  Then we have related terms such as “demand,” “preferences,” “value,” and ”value drivers,” “decision criteria,” evaluation criteria,” “goals,” and “requirements.”  We need to be more precise because this lack of precision leads to poor measurement and consequently mistakes when interpreting research findings to make precise recommendations.

Kristen: Interesting, this is what I love about our conversations. I can see this is a “hot button” for you. So I can see where there might be confusion and a danger of using some of these terms interchangeably. What can we as researchers do about it?

John: Well I think we all need to commit to “greater preciseness” and be more deliberate in our choice of language when talking about goals and motivators. This starts by distinguishing between what people aim to achieve (goals) and what will enable those goals to be achieved (needs). This requires agreement on a definition for goals which I consider to be extremely important.

Kristen: I’d like to talk a little more about the nature of business goals. Now that we have agreement around goals being the primary motivator, what’s next?

John: Accepting goals as the primary motivator positions companies as providing what people “need” in order to achieve their goals.   This allows companies to take a more objective look at criteria used to gauge value or how much a proposed solution or offer will enable them to achieve their goals. So, since goals are the primary motivator we can expect a company's core brand promise or vision to reflect the goals of their target market members in order to provide the basis for engagement.

Kristen: When you say “How much an offer will enable ‘them’ to achieve their goals.” Do you mean the customer? Sounds like this approach is very customer-centric and requires companies to have an intimate understanding of customers' needs.

John: Yes that’s just it. See, the benefit of this approach will be felt by all when a company enables customers to meet their goals while enabling them to be successful (goal alignment).  A focus on goals encourages companies to adopt a proactive and forward looking perspective as they establish what best they can do to help people achieve their goals. 

Kristen: Going back a bit to what you said about engagement, you've just published an article in Quirks outlining the special challenges for measuring loyalty in low engagement industries like insurance. How can insurance carriers with little end consumer contact identify customer goals and position themselves to address customer needs?

John: The customers' goal is peace of mind—to sleep well at night, knowing they and their family have coverage. But historically the industry has set up barriers to engagement, by adding complex language, limiting access to information, and expecting blind trust from the customer. Changes in the marketplace mean companies are removing barriers—engaging in social media, dealing directly with customers, letting them access information on the web etc. Enabling engagement and recognizing they have to meet customer needs through understanding their goals is only going to increase.

So what do you think?  Are goals on top of the motivational pile?  If goals are on the top, how does understanding goals help us identify and meet consumer needs?

Can you foster customer loyalty in a low-engagement industry like insurance?

Creating customer loyalty is a challenge for every company and has never been more important. Over the last few years, a plethora of loyalty programs have emerged to build cross-selling, retention and up-selling across a variety of industries. Customer cards, frequent-shopper programs and reward programs all work toward achieving these business outcomes. However, one industry that has had a greater challenge with creating customer loyalty is insurance, specifically personal protection. Read the whole article here.