By: Brian Lamar, Mike Cook

How many times have you conducted consumer research for a client, but felt that the results were shelved? How do you get clients to understand, accept, and use consumer research at all levels of the organization?

These were the very questions that kicked off the July session of the Marketing Research Shared Interest Group (SIG). Stacy Dye, Vice President of Client Development at SIRS, and Elysha Haigis, Director of Project Administration and Client Services at SIRS, shared best practices around integrating research into large and small organizations through six steps:

  • Generating
  • Interpreting
  • Disseminating
  • Generating Action
  • Systematic Monitoring
  • Documenting Progress

Disseminating through Documenting Progress are phases where market researchers can provide the most value for their clients. The biggest takeaway was the demonstration of their online action planning tool, which allows employees at all levels of an organization to access research results. In specific examples provided, action plans shared within a retail organization through this tool could be accessed and understood from the corporate to the store level. This tool allowed continual monitoring of action plans that were a result of research findings, which helped to dramatically improve consumer perceptions of participating stores.

 

About Stacy Dye

Stacy’s research career has spanned almost 20 years and covered a wide array of market segments and methodologies. Stacy has worked with retailers at all levels of their respective organizations, from the CEO to the cashier, to determine how to turn research into action and sales gains.

About Elysha Haigis

Elysha has over 10 years of full-service market research experience. As Director of Client Services and Project Management at SIRS, she manages all aspects of a project from the sample design, to questionnaire/screener development, data collection and analysis, to ensure all needs are meet and results are delivered.

About SIRS
SIRS has worked with retailers for more than 30 years to implement change based on consumer research. The company has developed a multitude of strategies and tactics aimed at driving organizational change and, ultimately, results.

 

Catch up with the Market Research Shared Interest Group at their monthly events. Thank you to SIRS for sharing their knowledge with us this month and to our strategic partners for helping make the monthly Market Research SIGs happen: EMI Research Solutions, BrandHub, REDI Cincinnati, and OfficeKey.