This column spotlights a topic I’ve wanted to write about for quite awhile, not only because that topic – market research – is how I’ve made my living for nearly twenty-five years, but because it is so widely misunderstood. To help put the topic into a proper perspective, allow me to begin by sharing a recent experience with you. Besides giving myself an opportunity to vent, I’m hoping this will afford the scores of other market research professionals serving our industry – most of whom I count as colleagues and friends rather than competitors – some richly deserved R&R (i.e., relief and recognition).

As many of you know, I’ve been involved with automation/IT market research and consulting for well over half of my career. Although I’ve never done an official tally, during that period I’ve personally conducted thousands of research surveys with companies and individuals in a wide range of markets and applications. And that doesn’t even include the direct mail, email and Web-based surveys! Let it suffice to say, not many things rattle me anymore when it comes to market research.

For the most part, I can happily say that it has been not only an enjoyable and rewarding experience but also a great learning opportunity with a lot of variety and new challenges. It has also given me countless opportunities to interact with bright, talented and interesting people across a broad market and geographic landscape, and many of those interactions have evolved into longstanding professional and personal relationships. Being a person who likes people and enjoys talking to others, I guess you could say that I love my work – well, most of the time, that is.

Having done this kind of work for such a long time and, as a result, knowing so many people personally, I can usually reach the people I need to contact fairly easily. And once we connect, the dialog is always mutually respectful and friendly. But every now and then I run into one of THOSE people, the ones who seem to think that talking to anyone they haven’t known all their life is somehow going to put them on a fast track to hell. I’m not sure how they get that way, but I just dealt with one the other day, and I must say that despite being a pretty thick-skinned and seasoned professional, it still ruined my afternoon. Here’s what happened…

I was making calls for a market study that called for conducting surveys in a part of the utility organization where we don’t conduct research as regularly as in many other areas. Moreover, with aging workforce issues now in full swing, a rising number of those contacts have changed recently due to retirements, transfers, promotions and so forth. In any case, we usually try to start with someone with whom we’ve have had a prior contact and ask that person to point us to the proper individual. This procedure usually goes smoothly and provides an opportunity to catch up a little with the primary contact at the same time, which also has value.

In this case, I started by calling an engineering VP that we had interviewed several times over the past five years on various topics. The prior surveys had been carried out by one of our other analysts, however, so I had never actually spoken to this particular person myself prior to this call. Even so, he accepted my call and was kind enough to provide the name of the person in charge of the area I was researching. He also gave me permission to use his name as a reference.

When I called the direct number for the person he referred me to, I got this voicemail message: “This is (John Doe), manager of the (such and such) department of (utility). I can’t take your call right now, but if you will leave a message, I’ll return your call as soon as possible. If you need to speak with me right away, you can reach me on my cell at (123-456-7890).”

That sounded reasonable enough, so I left my name, number and a brief message, as requested. Now I know that most people tend to shy away from survey calls if they just arrive out of the blue from someone they’ve never met before – that much is understandable – so my message briefly stated that I was referred to him by his colleague (by name) and that I would appreciate a return call at his convenience. But when I received no reply by the next day, I called again and got the same recording. Although I made several more attempts to reach him by phone over the next several days, I did not leave a message each time since that would be annoying to most people, including me. I also refrained from calling his cell since this was obviously not any kind of emergency.

After making no progress in reaching this person, I finally decided to try his cell, just to see if we might be able to set up a mutually convenient time to talk. As it turned out, however, his cell reverted back to the same message I’d been getting on his office phone. In other words, he was essentially unreachable for all practical purposes.

I certainly understand that people travel, take vacations, work in the field and are sometimes out sick for extended periods. In those cases I usually try to reach a secretary or another person in the department to determine when the person I’m trying to reach might be available, but that doesn’t always work either. In this case, when I hit “0” to reach an operator, I got another recording saying that no admin person was assigned to that
extension. So there I was, at a veritable dead end with no way to get past the steely will of the automated guardian!

After about two weeks and at least two-dozen or more attempts to reach him, on what I had vowed would be my final attempt, he miraculously answered his cell phone. Once the initial shock passed, I politely introduced myself, explained the purpose of my call and asked him when he might have a few minutes to talk at a time that would be convenient for him. His reply went something like this: “I don’t know you or your company or why you’re calling me, but I don’t take unsolicited calls from people I don’t know.”

Even after I explained that we had established a relationship with another senior member of the management team over a period of several years, he reacted as though I was calling him from the state penitentiary and asking for bail money! He reiterated his previous retort and then scolded me for having the audacity to call him since we were not properly introduced or previously acquainted. (Gee, marriage was never even on my agenda!)

Okay, we all have bad days, and I’m always willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt. However, this kind of rude behavior
and harsh response generally follows a common pattern. Trust me, I’ve seen this so many times over the years, and it almost always has the same outcome. These are people who really believe they know it all and that no one could possibly tell them anything they don’t already know. In reality, however, they usually have their heads buried so far in the sand that they are impervious to absorbing any real knowledge.

Ironically, these are frequently the same people who are constantly whining that suppliers don’t listen to their needs and think that suppliers really don’t care if their products are properly suited to the applications as long as they keep making money. No kidding; there are people who are firmly convinced that suppliers are the enemy – something to be avoided at all costs (pun intended)!

That said, I do understand that some people either can’t take time on the spur of the moment to participate in a market survey and that some simply don’t want to participate for whatever reasons they might feel are legitimate. But what I don’t understand – and never will – is why they feel justified in being rude about it. Call me old school, but I was taught from an early age that being polite to others (whether you already know them or not) doesn’t cost you anything yet sometimes pays big dividends.

But nice or not, the purpose behind most market research is to make accurate assessments of users’ wants, needs and expectations; not to waste anyone’s time asking a bunch of stupid questions leading to some abstract result, if any at all. So, if you’ve been harboring those kinds of frivolous
assumptions, let me assure you that companies don’t spend thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars on market research every year just to satisfy whimsical curiosities. The fact is, they spend that money for a variety of very good reasons, not the least of which is extracting the suggestions, ideas, innovations and yes, the complaints and frustrations that might otherwise never be identified in a way that can be turned into actionable results.

When properly carried out, market research allows survey participants to not only provide information in a candid way but also to get something valuable in return. I’m not talking about a watch, a calculator or a camera here since most of the people in technology markets already have more than enough of those kinds of toys. Instead, we try to provide something far more valuable that can’t be picked up at a local retailer or simply ordered online: Pertinent, relevant information.

Any savvy market research firm will typically provide respondents with useful information in exchange for their time and participation. This “reward” may be in the form of a summary report, access to a resultant database or something along those lines. Objective, unbiased information gathered and compiled by a reputable firm can be worth considerably more than a tangible gift – the latter of which may also violate corporate gift policies at a growing number of companies – since information can improve job performance as well as saving time and money (and occasionally impressing the hell out of your boss when you exhibit your astute subject matter knowledge!).

So, the next time you get a call out of the blue from someone you’ve never met, offering you valuable information in exchange for a little of your time, it just might be worth taking the call and sharing a portion of what you know. Your participation and a few minutes of your time could actually help you do a better job, be better informed and who knows, maybe even make a new friend. But even if you don’t have time for that, at least be nice; it won’t cost you a thing.
- Mike

Behind the Byline
Mike Marullo has been active in the automation, controls and instrumentation field for more than 35 years and is a widely published author of numerous technical articles, industry directories and market research reports. An independent consultant since 1984, he is co-founder and Director of Research & Consulting for InfoNetrix LLC, a New Orleans-based market inteligence firm focused on Utility Automation and IT markets. Inquiries or comments about this column may be directed to Mike at MAM@InfoNetrix.com.
©2007 Jaguar Media, Inc. & Michael A. Marullo. All rights reserved.