By working with one client across multiple research projects, one can start to get a sense of how the client works – determining what aspects of a project is of more importance to them, anticipate needs, and get ahead of any issues that may arise. Here are some things we learned when we worked with one client contact across multiple research projects:
1 – Language that needs to be written in a contract. Before the project begins, the market research company and the client need to agree on the contract terms, with language written in that works for both parties. When we work with one client multiple times, we start to get a sense of what language/wording is needed on the client side in the contract for the client’s legal team to approve it, leading to fewer revisions.
2- What the client’s facility needs might be. We had a client who had a team that resided outside of the US. The team needed to watch the qualitative research events (QREs) as they were taking place. We knew that for the next project with them, we had to ask if there would be international observers so that we could obtain costs for livestreaming with the facility in the initial bid, rather than going back to the facility and obtaining additional costing. The same client also requested a camera operator in the focus group room for higher quality video, which is typically an additional add-on service from the facility. When writing the proposal for the next project, we knew to ask the client if a camera operator needed to be utilized and if so, factor those costs in.
3- A better understanding of the Client’s industry. While we are not expected to be experts in every Client’s industry, by working together with one more often, it is natural for us to develop a more refined understanding of the products and services that the client offers along with their target market. This increased understanding can lead to writing questions in the guide that the client may not have thought of themselves but can see the value in that question, as well as an ability to pick up important themes to address in reporting finding.
4 – What details the client is looking for in the final report. Whether it is a topline or a full report, by working with the same client multiple times, there should be a need for fewer revisions in the final report as we write more of them for the same client. We can now already include things that we know the client has asked for in previous reports such as video clips, worksheet data and more, in addition to how the client would like them reported.
With each project, you can gain new insights into what works well and what may not work for that specific client. With more experience working together, you will develop ways to avoid previous pitfalls and continually improve your ways of working together leading to better project management and results. Clients will appreciate this and tend to bring you repeat business for future projects.
Written by: Linda Mui, Senior Training & Research Coordinator