Vancouver business workshop

I’m getting ready to present my workshop on Accelerating Business Value with Market Research at SFU Harbour Centre in December. Market research is always a hot topic: managers need to know how to do it. Investors need to know that the people running their companies know how to do it. And reporters, analysts and blog writers are constantly writing about it.

Here are some of the more interesting articles and blog posts I’ve read recently. Get a flavor for some of the topics I’ll be dealing with in my workshop and enjoy some keen insights:

• The democratization of market research. What if just about anyone could pose questions to a target population and receive unfiltered, immediate answers they could trust? It has already begun.
• Why market research needs to stay classy. Don’t do flimsy surveys, people.
• Social Media and Market Research: The Marriage That Can’t Be Ignored. Be a market research methodology agnostic.
• Fail Factors – Why Startups Die: Market Research. “Good companies do this research BEFORE they make huge bets. Arrogant/stupid companies don’t do it at all. Inexperienced companies do it too late, normally.”
• How Much Should Market Research Cost? Good question.
• How Market Research Could Have Saved Netflix From Losing Over 800,000 Customers. Great case study.

If you’ve read any interesting articles on the topic of market research lately, feel free to leave some tips and links in the comments!

Learn more at my workshop on December 7 in Vancouver. Register today for Accelerating Business Value with Market Research

The company founded by Steve (“We don’t do market research”) Jobs and Steve Wozniak launched “Apple Customer Pulse” earlier this year with the aim of helping the company “get the complete picture” through targeted customer feedback. One more nail in the coffin of the Myth of No Market Research at Apple.

• (Download our Market Research Toolbox. Just $9.95 for a PowerPoint 47-slide product showing you how to conduct market research)

Thinks Different. Identify Your Customers’ Needs

Let’s give Jobs credit where it is due: customers may not be able to identify the revolutionary products and innovations that would make their lives so much better. That responsibility is for the “crazy ones”, as Jobs put it – the people who think they can change the world. The people who “think different”.

No Apple customer ever wrote in to Apple in the 1990s and said, “What I really need is a touch-screen phone that allows me to conveniently check my email, search the Internet, record podcasts, play games and, uh, call people.” Nobody was asking for that. (more…)

I’m giving a workshop on Accelerating Business Value with Market Research on Wednesday, December 7 at SFU Harbour Centre in downtown Vancouver. This is an ideal workshop for managers at all levels. Bonus: sign up by November 15  and you’ll get a  $80 discount off the regular price.

Effective Market Research Techniques for Entrepreneurs, Market Segmentation, Business Decision-Making and More

What will you learn? You’ll get tools and insights on how to use research techniques to accelerate business growth. Learn how to:

• Scope the market size of your market using 7 highly effective techniques.
• Segment your markets and position your products or services.
• Generate new product ideas, test concepts and products and measure market performance.
• Gather competitor information.
• Do market research to help you make better decisions.

The workshop’s speakers will include:

• Lyn Blanchard of Creekstone Consulting Inc.
• Matt Shepherd , Mustel Research Group (questionnaire design)
• David Humphrey, Jostle Corporation (usability studies)
• James Mazur, President, GoneFishing Consulting Inc. (consumer market research)
• Dean Prelazzi, VP BC Innovation Council (research for decision-making)
• Jason Cyr, President Tiipz (Social Media Research).

Need more reasons to come to the workshop? Participants receive a 100 page booklet on market research, hear from expert speakers, learn from case studies and much, much more.

Register today for Accelerating Business Value with Market Research