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Archive for the ‘Acquisition Research’ Category« Previous EntriesGetting Buy-In To Your Research ProjectTuesday, July 3rd, 2012  More and more clients are coming to us at an early stage in the creation of a research brief to get our thoughts not only on how we can help research the problem but also to get our help and backing to get buy-in to the project from inside and help fight the internal bureaucracy. If you try and battle the red tape you will get nowhere. Instead, follow these 4 simple rules to get your research project off the ground and you will stand a greater chance of business success: • Go against the path of least resistance. Find out who is bought in to your way of thinking and then get them onside. • Use the resources that are close to hand. Don’t go to many lengths to get a large budget straight away. Instead, use people you know, desk research and other resources/budget that you have to help you get the wheels in motion and any evidence you may need to move to the next level. • Secure only the commitment you need for the short term. Don’t try to get the board’s buy-in from the get-go. Instead make sure that everyone is clear to what you are trying to achieve and then get the least amount of commitment you need to take your project to the next stage. • Move quickly. Most good ideas stall because they don’t have the necessary momentum. Put your all behind the project or it will die and atrophy. To find out how B2B International can help your organisation, contact one of our international offices http://www.b2binternational.com/contact-b2b/ or find out about what is important when putting a research brief together http://www.b2binternational.com/publications/articles/market-research-brief/ Are you an effective communicator?Friday, August 22nd, 2008
Jason Zhang was a little surprised when the five shirts his friend had bought for him arrived in the mail; he had been expecting to receive long-sleeved shirts and yet found his new garments had short sleeves. Although he thought he had been clear in his request, Jason discovered to his detriment that effective communication is not always as easy as you think… Last summer, during my visit to Tianjin, I bought a couple of long-sleeved shirts in a department store. These shirts fit me very well and I really love this particular brand. Unfortunately, they’re not available in Beijing, where I live. A week ago, I rang my friend who lives in Tianjin and asked her to buy five shirts on my behalf. During our conversation, I briefed her in detail on the particular brand name, the size, my favored style and color, and certainly what was an affordable price for me. I thought that was all the information she needed to make the purchase. However, I was wrong as I didn’t communicate to her one of the key pieces of information – long sleeves! In the meantime, she didn’t check this information with me either as she took for granted that short sleeves would fine with me. This is understandable, as Beijing is pretty hot in summer – with daytime temperatures as high as 38 degrees centigrade. Most people on the street have short-sleeved shirts, but my preference is long sleeves. This is a real example to illustrate the importance of effective communication in our life and our workplace. Basically, in the workplace, at any given time, we all have to communicate in some way with our internal or external clients. As an effective communicator, you can bring real concrete benefits to your work and your organization. At the very least, you avoid having to do things twice, as you get it right in the first instance.  In our capacity as professional consultants, perfect communication – both internal and external – is a crucial factor in building our sustainable competitive strengths, like efficiency, productivity, and a comfortable working environment. As a business-to-business market research agency, our typical clients are marketing and business development professionals from national and international organizations. They come to us for help in making difficult and expensive decisions. At every point in the process, these clients’ expectations for effective communications from their suppliers are very high. You would agree with me that the foundation to effective communications is precise information via an appropriate medium at the right time. At each contact point with clients in our work, effective communications are vitally important, from taking enquires, RFQ/RFP (request for quote/proposal), briefing, commissioning meeting, project design, through to the final reporting. It is our company’s normal practice to deliver an interim presentation, to ensure all the parties involved in the project have the same level of understanding of the exact project deliverables. Within the marketing research and consulting business sector, to ensure client liaison in an effective and efficient way, your essentials skills are listening, plus market insight, to understand a client’s particular business and needs. In any communication, trying to use easy-to-understand expressions rather than special terminology or abbreviations, is a good idea. Let me give you an example. Last year, we conducted a market assessment study for a leading American industrial valve maker, to help them penetrate Asia’s pharmaceutical markets. For this market entry study, we used PEST (Political, Economic, Social and Technological) analysis to review the attractiveness of the opportunity and the barriers to entry to each individual market in Asia. When our project team leader and myself co-delivered the final presentation to the Client, we kept talking about PEST and IPR (Intelligence Property Right) issues in China. When we approached the end of presentation in the Q&A session, one of the audience asked the question, "What do you mean by PEST and IPR?" I then realized we should have clarified the abbreviations we had used. It is quite normal in all walks of life and in all ways of communication to expect the audience to have the same level knowledge as we do. However, on many occasions, this is not the case. This is the reason why our project team always has detailed briefings, commissioning meetings and interim presentations with our Client. With these efforts, we can ensure both sides have the same level of knowledge and expectation from the marketing research and consulting project. The other day, I got an email enquiry forwarded by our New York office. There were merely two sentences in the email: "We’re from Brazil looking to acquire a Chinese company. What is the cost and time frame for you to research this target company?" How do you find the communication of this email enquiry? If you were sending out an enquiry for this sort of buying and acquisition study, what information do you think you need to provide to your agency? Acquistion And Mergers In ChinaFriday, June 15th, 2007
An article in the Financial Times shows that more than 90 per cent of Chinese respondents to the new survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit and Norton Rose, the law firm, said they were looking to conduct a merger or acquisition over the next 12 months. The article is shown below. For more information on research in China visit the website for our subsidiary in Beijing.
Hints For Successful Research In Latin AmericaFriday, March 23rd, 2007
There are few places where so many factors can influence the smooth execution of market research studies as Latin America. Here are some basic rules critical to mission success, to be followed for a happy ending to any project. These “LatAm Research Laws” can be summarised in three broad categories: Language and Culture For many global research projects, researchers try to adopt identical methods, even in vastly different markets and cultures. For Latin America, this approach may function well in two diverse situations: where that method is so basic that it will suit even very low-tech environments, or if the target respondents are culturally similar worldwide, such as software developers, the project may be successful. But this is not the case for research in Latin America with consumers, the trade, or most B2B publics. Without a local interface to smooth the way, there is little chance of the uniform worldwide method functioning throughout the region; and if it is applied without adjustments, there is only a low probability that the results will be as desired. Heed language differences, including those among countries with the deceiving similarity of a common language; i.e. Spanish. Heed cultural particularities. For example, the telephone may be the most appropriate method for a study in some LatAm countries, while elsewhere telephone will not function. It depends on diverse factors such as sample demographics, interview timing, the subject matter and the questionnaire structure. Respect your Providers. Do not impose eminently pragmatic business treatment on professionals accustomed to a warmer, personal dialogue. Don’t expect them to give same-day turnaround for your anonymously-addressed “gang e-mailâ€?. Speak a global language. Avoid using buzz words and acronyms in communications and especially in questionnaires. Use universal terminology. Don’t even think of asking all your local providers for a sample of classes “A, B and C1â€? unless you are willing to have a sample equivalent to the top 15%in one Latin American country, but only the top 40% in another part of the region. Use the universal language such as “per centâ€?. Don’t ask what people will not answer. Beginning an interview with an income filter is a direct route to sampling error, because half the respondents might refuse, and those at both ends of the income spectrum might distort their responses. Don’t shop in the dark. Seek help both “hereâ€? and “thereâ€?. First get suggestions and references from experience research buyers. A “gang e-mailâ€? sent to a long list of potential suppliers is roulette, and is unlikely to help breed a long term relationship with a trusted partner. Effective international research requires quick, clear two way communications and timely input from local project managers. To avoid delay, embarrassment, wasted budget and unhappy clients, it’s wide to consult trusted in-market researchers before defining appropriate methodology, sampling procedures, or logistic solutions. Customer Loyalty SurveyWednesday, March 21st, 2007
Today we have a very interesting article taken from B2B Marketing, it discuses issues how B2B loyalty providers must hone their offerings. Here at B2B International a third of all market research commissioned with our company is customer satisfaction and customer loyalty research. To learn more about how we can help you win and maintain customers for life visit B2B International Customer Satisfaction.
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