Before you embark on a research project of any size, you should ensure that you learn how your provider works and you should see if they can answer the following questions.
Do they understand what you are trying to achieve?
If you have clear goals going into your research project, do your potential partners understand them? More than the simple overall shape of the findings, are they knowledgeable enough about your industry to work out what you are trying to say? Particularly in B2B, it’s vital that your research partners understand thoroughly the messages you want to send to your potential sales partners. At Perspectus Global we make sure that we have done enough research and have industry partners on call to help shape our own understanding and take clients to the right conclusions. With extensive media experience, we understand what people like to read, and can also pitch more exciting stories and narratives for our clients too.
Are they confident enough to support you and even question your project?
Carrying on from our question one – does your potential research partner know enough about their own business and how it dovetails with yours? Can they support you with advice on whether you need quantitative or qualitative research and in what form it is easily digestible? It could be that you lead your research and have no need of advice – but there can be pitfalls that inexperienced researchers might allow you to fall into. These could include failing to ask for multimodal answers to questions, not screening panels properly or using qualitative research as a background for the general population. At Perspectus Global we’re willing to explain best practice research methodology, work with you to ensure the resulting data is as strong as possible, and offer solutions when needed.
Can they deliver under pressure and on time?
In this day of instant information, there’s no point having a project which is late – data can quickly become outdated. We understand that projects can be fluid and need adapting on the fly. We’re nimble enough to gain quick but robust research results. We’re able to produce “newsjack” stories within days as well as much larger projects and well-crafted writing over a short period of time. We’re a solutions-led organisation, helping you to get to the right destination.
Do they create research that you can use in real life?
In many ways quantitative research is easy to perform. Send out questions and get back tables with responses. But if the right answers aren’t asked in the right way, the results can be meaningless. Perspectus Global will craft your research project so it gives you the answers you are looking for, as well as helping you display them in an easy-to-digest package. Whether it’s executive summaries, infographics or more detailed white papers, we know how to tell stories with data.
Are their data and interviews completely robust?
It can be easy to get sucked into cheap research projects where panels are not representative and, particularly on niche panels, the wrong people are asked to complete surveys. This, at best, gives you a faulty view of the market and audience. Perspectus Global has access to hundreds of thousands of people all over the globe – and they are all thoroughly vetted and screened to ensure they are our target audience.
If you have a research project in the pipeline you’d like help planning, email us at info@perspectusglobal.com