Industrial Marketing
Research Company

Consumer and industrial markets are entirely different in terms of the products are supplied, the channel they are supplied by and the relationships that exist between supplier and customer.  This means that often a different approach is required for industrial marketing research. 

• Complexity of the purchase decision - The purchase decision is often complex (due to the high value and technical nature of the purchase) and there are usually many people involved including technical staff, purchasing, senior management or even external bodies such as customers or consultants.  We would typically target the main decision maker in research, but in some cases we will speak to other decision makers too where relevant
  
  
• Derived demand – Depending on where you are in the value chain will determine who you want to influence and therefore who you are likely to conduct research with.  Usually you will research your direct customers, but there may be issues for which you choose to research other groups further down the value chain.  For example if you want to create customer pull through of a new product you may communicate directly to an end consumer.  In any research project we aim to define who you want to influence and thus who the research should target
  
  
• Smaller customer base / higher value spend – Industrial markets in particular may have very few customers and typically the majority of this value will be driven by just a proportion of these customers.  In our research we understand that each and every customer is extremely important to you and in any contact we have we treat them with great care.  The limited numbers of customers also has implications in terms of the research mode we use.  We typically have to design a research method that maximises customer participation and this can often mean methods such as internet research are impractical  
  
  
• Global customer base - Industrial customers are more likely to be based in various places across the world and we find that industrial marketing research is often global in scope.  We recognise it is key to have an excellent research offer in all countries with the Far East and South America becoming increasingly important markets where we are required to conduct research
  
  
• Marketing channels – Industrial companies do not market their products in the same way as consumers in that they tend to avoid channels such as mass advertising and use smaller, more targeted means of communications such as trade shows or trade press 
  
  
• Brand – Some in industrial markets may claim that brand is not important because it is the technical performance and suitability of the product that is key.  However, we have seen in our research that brand is important in industrial markets, both in terms of the product and in terms of the company that sells the product
  
  
• Technical subject – Products can often be complex with their own terminology.  We make sure that we understand these issues and we brief any interviewers fully.  We only use specialist business to business interviewers who are familiar with technical subjects.  Any translations of questionnaires requires careful checking to ensure terminology has been translated correctly
  
  

Here are some examples of questions we have helped answer on behalf of industrial companies in the past:

• Would customers further down the value chain welcome direct contact with me and if so what would be the benefit to them and to me?
• What is the value of my brand?  If I change the name of my product/company will it affect sales?
• How important is the company branding vs the product branding?  Which should we focus our resources on developing?
• How can I strengthen my relationship with key accounts, improve their loyalty and sell more to them?
• How can I justify my price premium in a cost competitive market?
• What is the best channel configuration for my business in order to meet the needs of customers most effectively?
• What do customers think are the key issues that the industry faces moving forwards and how can we react to these changes and change our marketing approach to better meet needs?

If you have an industrial marketing research project in mind either in the UK or other countries around the world, feel free to get in touch.  We would be happy to put forward a research proposal or discuss more informally how you could progress things.  You can call us on +44 (0)1663-732721 or contact us through our on-line form: contact us.

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