The value of a strong questionnaire design when complemented by the task of high quality sample development is not fully appreciated. Often these two essential building blocks of market research are relegated to the back of the line on research projects.
Research Axiom One: You can never fully recover from a poorly written questionnaire.
• No manipulation of the variables, regardless of how cleverly done
• No amount of analysis, regardless of how brilliant
• No degree of insightful interpretation, regardless of intellectual prowess
Nothing can save you from a poor research foundation. The building will collapse like a house of cards!
If there is one part of the research process that I know, it is questionnaire design. It is a task repeatedly given insufficient time and attention. Clients and research professional alike often underestimate the time it will take to develop a truly well structured and concise instrument.
What amazes me most? Project leaders relegate this task to a status depicted by the attitude of: “Once the questionnaire is done we can get on with the important stuff, like analysis and reporting.” The assumption that analysis work is the essence of the research and the expectation that interpreting the results is where the mastery of research ultimately lies is a mystery to me.
Have we not pounded the concept of garbage-in garbage-out into our heads? Can new internet tools substitute for critical thinking and the hard work of aligning the research instrument to the purpose of the study to answer the business questions that sponsors paid to learn?
If this seems like a bit of a rant, well I guess I am guilty. My own research-on-research including the use of a 25-point questionnaire audit system has shown me that even well healed researchers are less diligent about quality than one would hope. Research is not only science it is a craft [perhaps an art] and if the proper fundamentals are not applied the product is less than artful.
I will end this part of my ranting with an analogy [but don't be surprised to hear more on this topic]. If you have not studied and then practiced writing poetry, would you expect to publish a book of poems simply because your marketing department asked you to? Designing a good quality research instrument probably takes less talent than being a good poet, but it’s close.
Wait, not so fast, we are not done, there is another mistake from which you cannot fully recover. A poor questionnaire design is one possible fatal mistake, but not the only one. Good solid sample development is also necessary. Here is another Research Axiom worth your consideration.
Research Axiom Two: You can never fully recover from a sample that lacks validity; and once again:
• No manipulation of the variables, regardless of how cleverly done
• No amount of analysis, regardless of how brilliant
• No degree of insightful interpretation, regardless of intellectual prowess
Nothing can save you from a poorly developed sample!
The value of sample development is also underappreciated, as are the skills related to creating a valid sample. Project managers, research analysts, and all those who lose sleep over the quality of the sample sources they have available and who work hard to provide the best possible sample for each research project they conduct, are worth their weight in gold.
With numerous challenges to good sample development always hovering over us, if the research team conducting the study does not pay close attention to this critically important task the chances of deriving useful results are likely to diminish rapidly. One of the worst situations to be in, is standing in front of a room full of executives and presenting the research implications when from off in the far corner an executive vice president (EVP) asks you, “Are you sure about that finding? Who were these respondents? They don’t appear to have any knowledge about the market or our products.”
If you can definitively reply, “We believe the respondents in this sample are qualified” and then give a crisp response about the quality control (QC) steps used to verify the validity of the sample, you have saved the day. If on the other hand, you hesitate and cannot defend the validity of the sample, you have lost your audience – there is nothing more they want to hear from you because in their minds the voice of the respondents do not reflect the people they are trying to reach – the day ends badly.
If you do not care about the quality of the research you conduct, well shame on you, but at least recognize that a sample of good quality is a necessity for self-preservation – enough said.
Two crucial elements of selling high ticket products are trust and relationship. You need to give every effort to maintain relationship with your existing customers and create your prospects to expand your business. Many business owners join professional trade organizations to connect niche audience and create new dimensions for their market. Some of the organizations go for training their employees to boost their sales and profits.
However, unless you include yourself in the niche market conference and develop relationship with people interested in your products and services it is difficult to increase your sales. However, when you attend events organized by professional trade organizations, you can directly make contact with people interested in your high ticket program.
Let’s discuss about 5 effective methods of increasing the effect of your high ticket marketing:
1. Devise strategies to promote your business effectively so as to increase the visibility of your business. If the business becomes visible in the eyes of the customer, it will certainly attract prospective clients.
2. Select a business name that can best represent your business and that can easily describe the benefits to your customers about your products/services and programs. An apt name can speak volumes about your business.
3. Don’t forget to promote your business through articles that you distribute through the article marketing directories. Article marketing is an effective way of providing information to your niche audience.
4. If possible, go for Internet radio programs, which are interested in your niche. Make sure that the person interviewing, asks you those questions which are memorable for the interested audience.
5. It is always advisable to put your high ticket marketing efforts consistently present in your agenda numerous times in a particular week. This way, a lot of promotion can take place and it will keep reminding people of your solutions to their vital niche market problems.
As many consumers want to get what they pay for, sometimes it becomes difficult for the marketers to offer the right price for their products. Although there is no magic formula of setting price for your products, there are certain techniques that can help you determine the right price for your products.
Values of your products and services are reflected in your brand. With a greater perceived value of you brand, you should charge higher price for your products.
Quality Should Determine the Value
Often, buyers perceive that lower price means lower quality. It is difficult to convince your target audience that you are offering better quality with low price. Again, if your products and services are able to compete for quality with any other reputed brand in the market, what’s the use in offering the products with low price? Hence, while setting the price, you must understand the quality of your products. It is better to clearly communicate with your prospects about the benefits of using your products so that they will show interest in paying for your products and services.
Judge your target Audience
While providing products and services, you must have a target market and target audience in your mind. If you understand your prospects- their age-group, socio-economic status, region they belong to- you can get a better idea of setting price for your products. For instance, if you are selling celebrity perfume, your target audience is a high profile society and they are able to pay a higher amount for your products.
So what’s the right price for your products?
Well, you need to understand two things to set the right price for your products and services. Firstly, your positioning strategy- bulk, medium-range or prestige. Secondly, value perceived by your customers for your products.
Therefore, set your price to reflect the quality of your products.
