Primary Market Research The Market Position Product Analysis Using a Questionnaire Asking the Questions Preparing a Presentation

Why Market Research? Can you forecast demand for your product? Can you convince a sceptical person of the reality of this demand? Primary Market Research Secondary Market Research

The Market Position Product Life Cycle Analysis of Products Competitors Partners Your Unique Selling Point (USP) Customer Profile All leading to – Forecast of Demand

Analysing Products Star Growth phase Problem Child Growth phase Cash Cow Maturity Dog Decline Market Growth Market Share

Designing a Questionnaire Before using a questionnaire you should be able to answer three questions: Who will you be asking? What do you need to find out? Why are you asking these questions?

Things You Could Ask About How often do they buy the product? What price are they prepared to pay? What is the most important factor when deciding? Which of these do you like the best? …

The Time Trade-Off If you ask all the questions you are interested in it will make the questionnaire too long Only include the questions you really need

Targeting? If you are sure of your market segment you could target who to ask to answer your questionnaire Then demographic questions don’t have to be asked (is there another way?) But it might be too early to decide on your market segment …

Clarity It is CRUCIAL that all questions (and introductory patter) are perfectly clear Questions often need to be broken down into stages so that they are simple and clearly asking ONE THING

Questions Mix of ‘Closed’ and ‘Open’ questions Multiple-choice questions Include ‘Other’ to capture data Make sure categories don’t overlap Make sure they are logically watertight Try to minimise writing time and maximise ‘time with target’

Asking the Questions Approach people actively Smile and be polite Bounce back if rejected Don’t rush - not too much energy Make sure they understand you Leave space for answers Chat to them, make them relax Thank them lots of times

Preparing a Presentation Prepare for your audience Gather appropriate data and information to present Prepare and structure the material into a logical order Develop and prepare any visual aids Summarise the key points Don’t try to walk on water …