Tell me about the last time you bought a new mattress. Tell me everything that went into that purchase—the time spent researching, mattress stores visited, even the nights spent tossing and turning while deciding you really did need a new mattress. Before you start emailing me about your mattress-buying experiences, know that I’m only trying to make a point. It’s a pretty daunting task to...
Read more
In college, I had a chemistry professor (Dr. E) who was the epitome of the absent-minded genius. After stumbling over her words (a frequent occurrence) and seeing our perplexed faces, she’d proclaim: “Listen to what I mean — not what I say.” I was thinking about her the other day, and it occurred to me that this phrase also applies to the development of impactful...
Read more
There is an encouraging trend in the growing number of B2B organizations investing in insights to fuel innovation. Scheduling and engaging industry professionals can be a real nail-biter, not to mention time-consuming and expensive. Because of these difficulties, it’s important to reconsider what is necessary to manage your nerves. . . and indigestion when doing B2B research. The research methods at our disposal will deliver either...
Read more
To be perfectly honest with you, I loathe the whole process of drafting a discussion guide for qualitative research. Despite my personal feelings, it’s a necessary process — but not for the reasons you think. As researchers, our job is to listen to your business problems and translate that into a set of learning objectives. From there, we go out and listen to the right people to...
Read more
There was always high demand for something cold during the hot Florida summers where I grew up. Lemonade stands were a popular way to earn some extra cash. One summer day, a kid down the street set up a competing lemonade stand. Over the course of a few hours, I noticed my nemesis had more foot traffic, including one of my best neighborhood friends. I...
Read more