I was asked to present a seminar yesterday at a local business conference, the topic was on customer research and how this can be beneficial to SMEs. In the midst of preparing this presentation, it occurred to me that there is little research being conducted by SMEs relative to the amounts of research being conducted by larger companies. Is this simply a function of smaller budgets or something more? When I discussed online research and customer advisory panels in particular and polled the room as to whether any of the businesses who were in attendance had a panel, the show of hands (or lack thereof) confirmed this belief. Also, when I showed a slide containing the types of companies for which EasyInsites has built and maintains customer advisory panels, it became very clear that there were no SMEs represented on this list.
In this presentation, I pointed to several differences in SMEs vs. large companies which begins to explain why this is the case:
- Fast moving, creative and entrepreneurial
- Not a lot of time or money
- Have to succeed relatively quickly
- Generally can’t compete with the same approach as larger companies
- Critical importance of current customers
- Limited resources in-house
And specific differences regarding market research also contributes toward an explanation:
- Typically not a lot of experience i.e., not a lot of history in conducting research
- No one on staff dedicated to this function, usually just a small part of the marketing person’s job
- Research needs to be conducted more frequently, smaller scale and very cost effective
Whilst the above differences between SMEs and large companies help explain why an SME having a customer advisory panel is a rarity, these differences are also some of the very best reasons why they should! Whenever I talk with our prospects and clients about why they need a customer advisory panel (or a custom panel comprised of consumers, subscribers, members, employees or some other group whose feedback they are interested in collecting), I concentrate on several needs and benefits starting first and foremost with the decision to have this type of panel sends the right message to your customers and the marketplace in general — it indicates that you as a business are listening to your customers (and potential customers) and you care what they think and you are going to take into consideration their feedback. This is why we encourage all of our clients to issue a press release letting everyone know!
Other benefits which also serve the SMEs sector well include having a point of differentiation to compete more effectively, needing speedier turnaround of research results, having to reach a lower incidence group, making more of your overall budget, and needing a more continuous flow of feedback that can be absorbed and acted on effectively by your organisation. Although an online customer advisory panel fits with most of the needs of SMEs beautifully, it is true that the decision to invest in one also requires at least some forethought and commitment to the research process. I am convinced that in this situation, a little bit of forethought will go a very long way.
