For anyone in a specialized field like market research, there comes a point at which the specialist must

figure out how to communicate this expertise to those who do not have that kind of expertise. For market researchers, even longstanding clients at some point will want an explanation of the researcher's methodology- but these methodologies are often complex.

Communicating this information accurately, however, can be critical for clients as they make strategic decisions. Market researchers generally face two major challenges to producing compelling research for clients.

First, they must use their research to convey a practical view of the world. Second, they must apply the appropriate level of analytics. Researchers often make mistakes facing the first challenge when they view their analysis in a vacuum or reduce it to a one- or two dimensional view.

Researchers must discipline themselves to analyze research data based on multiple dimensions. Because of the great diversity of the market, researchers who view trends from a single dimension are likely to miss particular opportunities.

A segmentation approach can help researchers produce a more complete picture of the groups of people the client wishes to identify. The primary difficulty in confronting the second challenge-determining the appropriate level of analytics to apply-is that the necessary level of analytics varies directly with the ease of understanding the data.

So as the analytics uncover more granular details, it becomes increasingly more difficult to see the broader picture. Researchers may be tempted to oversimplify things in an effort to make them more accessible to their clients, but this only results in thin, unreliable analysis.

And complex and jargon-filled reports ultimately offer clients no insight at all. It is not easy to balance these extremes, so understanding the client's needs and what they are willing to pay for is a solid place to start. Once the client's expectations are known, the strategies for making deeper analysis more accessible will become more apparent. Researchers should not hesitate to exercise their capabilities.

By addressing the challenges of producing research that reflects real-life situations and analysis that is both clear and sufficiently deep, researchers can greatly help clients improve their profitability.

Question

1. Which of these two challenges do you think is the more difficult to address? Why?

2. How would you go about clarifying the client's needs and expectations? What kinds of issues would you look for, and what kinds of questions would you ask?