Your “Best Guess”

 

No Longer Sells!

 

Small business and professional practice owners and managers need to squeeze every marketing dollar.

That’s easy to do when you make the decision to stop thinking you know it all when it comes to customer and patient needs and wants, and start finding out the truth! Successful businesses are those that use Focus Group Sessions to uncover the real reasons that customers and prospects may be driven to your door, or abandon your offerings for those of a competitor.

“No matter how great your business

or professional skills are –as

with life itself– there’s no way

you can actually “put yourself

in another’s shoes.”

But (Voila!) you actually CAN get an accurate reading of other’s perceptions about what products and/or services you offer and how you offer them. No, not by using questionnaires or inventories or surveys… none of which most people ever respond to truthfully or meaningfully, even when they use heavily-researched, data-proven wording and techniques. What matters is what actual customers/patients/clients actually say and think, and how they express those comments. That takes a Focus Group.

6 FOCUS GROUP ESSENTIALS

 

1. PARTICIPANTS

9 to 11 mix of screened customers and types of prospects you most want to reach. Identify those who best seem to represent your target market (or results may be skewed or not useful).

2. MODERATOR

Market research firms can be hired to organize and facilitate. This, however, can cost a small fortune and not necessarily perform as well as one (non-employee) consultant or coach who has solid Focus Group leadership experience, and who can also interpret body language and be 100% objective… someone who knows how to encourage on-time attendance and full participation… plus be able to keep the discussion lively and beneficial to your interests, without feeling (as you might) the need to be defensive in response to a comment or attitude. In this case, it’s actually best to not be present at all.

3. COMFORTABLE “OFF-CAMPUS” SETTING

Location (not your place of business) matters. You need a relaxing environment… a general meeting room at a business building, nearby hotel or conference center, or a private restaurant room where you might host an informal dinner.

4. RECORD IT ALL

In addition to written notes, be sure to record the entire event with the understanding it will ONLY be used for review by the Moderator and business/practice principals involved to make sure of accuracy of written notes.

5. MORE THAN ONE GROUP = MORE ACCURATE RESULTS

Depending on the amount of budgeted money and time available, multiple Focus Groups can be used at different times to allow for response variety and the additional data helps validity and consistency of results.

6. REWARDS

If not a meal, at least coffee/tea/water/juice, and snacks should be available, and a small token gift with a personally-signed (by the business/practice owner/principal and the Moderator) Thank You card plus a token gift… a small potted plant, a $10 gift card for a local restaurant… for each participant.  

GO FOR IT! Doubts? Worries?

Call HAL: 1.931.854.0474

No fees. No sales pitch.

Just some free input to clarify the above

and help you succeed.