Gaining new clients, and continuing to communicate your agency’s value to current ones, can be a challenge when today’s businesses are in a state of flux. As they increasingly feel the pressure to better understand their customers, you need to show that you’re ahead of the curve while differentiating from the competition.
To help you stand apart from other market research agencies, we asked business leaders and marketing experts: What is one thing a market research agency can do to impress clients and win new ones?
From promoting long-term trust with quick research turnaround to optimizing and building your social media presence, there are several tips that may help you impress clients and set you apart from your competition.
Here are 10 ways to stand apart from other market research agencies:
- Show Them How to Get the Best Out of Respondents
- Propose Appropriate Survey Methods
- Promote Long -Term Trust With Quick Turnaround
- Develop a Strategic Partnership
- Leverage Satisfaction of Previous Clients to Win More
- Deliver Accurate and Updated Market Research Data
- Let Your Results Speak for Themselves
- Create a Bespoke Proposal for Free
- Reward Loyal Customers With Custom Perks
- Optimize and Build Your Social Media Presence
Show Them How to Get the Best Out of Respondents
To get strong feedback out of customer conversations, you need to provide the best qualitative research experience for respondents, and in turn the best experience for your client observers so that they can enjoy witnessing those ‘aha’ moments along with you. Using a trusted qualitative platform with purpose-built features allows you, the observers, and respondents to have a great qualitative experience, with feedback delivered in easily shareable formats.
-Jim Longo, Discuss
Propose Appropriate Survey Methods
The survey methods you introduce to your clients can make or break the deal. Each business is unique, so you have to present research methodologies that satisfy your clients’ needs. Carefully evaluate their situation by looking into key performance metrics and indicators. Match these with their objectives to determine if their current practices need minor modifications or have to be totally replaced. After analyzing past performances, propose a better survey approach to help your clients maximize earning potential and achieve their business goals.
-Adam Garcia, The Stock Dork
Promote Long-Term Trust with Quick Turnaround
Help attract new clients by showing a quick research turnaround. Providing highly visible, multimedia-driven research that is easily actionable can garner trust and long-term cooperation from clients. This can also help retain older clients who are willing to put more faith in the plans of an agency that continually proves its success record. Marketing in particular is one of those areas that tends to get blamed for failure, yet is rarely appreciated for maintaining the bottom line. There are many companies and clients out there that won’t appreciate the power of strong marketing unless you demonstrate it — and what better way than to share the Voice of the Customer (VoC) through continuous research updates and quick presentations.
-Boye Fajinmi, TheFutureParty
Develop a Strategic Partnership
Developing a strategic partnership with a non-competitor is an effective way for a market research agency to impress and attract clients. An agency that has filled the niche or identified its target audience is crucial, but having extensive resources for other essential elements in market research helps reassure clients with a well-defined professional network and expertise. It also shows that the agency has a significant reach in the industry, which translates to a highly competitive team that can deliver favorable results to its clients and businesses.
-Nunzio Ross, Majesty Coffee
Leverage Satisfaction of Previous Clients to Win More
Leveraging social proof of client satisfaction is an effective way for market research agencies to gain more clients. Display positive feedback of satisfied clients on your website to assure potential clients of the quality of the services you offer — it’s more convincing when people hear what fellow consumers have to say about a brand’s services, adding another layer of credibility.
-Jason White, All About Gardening
Deliver Accurate and Updated Market Research Data
The best way to gain that trust is to deliver accurate and updated market research data, as clients always look for market research agencies that they can rely on. In addition, giving them the right information at the right time proves that you understand your client’s needs, and can deliver information at a time that benefits them the most. Also be sure to keep in constant contact with your clients to make sure that you’re aware of their latest needs.
-Ilija Sekulov, Mailbutler
Let Your Results Speak for Themselves
Market research agencies should let their results speak for themselves when trying to impress prospective clients. A good deck that shows your impact on other companies and incorporates storytelling, data, and people’s voices to deliver strong ROI is key.
-Sumeer Kaur, Lashkaraa
Create a Bespoke Proposal for Free
The best way to win over new prospective clients is by creating a custom marketing proposal that showcases the unique value your agency brings to give them greater confidence in your business. Make sure that the document is relevant to their specific business — though this can be a time-consuming process, it can be optimized by crafting a template and personalizing it for each lead. In doing so, you won’t have to start from scratch, and the proposal should still offer a personal touch. This should help you to win over new leads and impress existing ones.
-Patrick Casey, Felix
Reward Loyal Customers With Custom Perks
Clients love to feel special, and while a traditional loyalty program can be a great start, individualized perks are much more effective. For example, you can offer a temporary, discounted rate to a long-time client with a tight budget, showing you value your partnership while helping solve their problem. Such gestures impress clients in a way that they remember, helping sustain your business and encouraging referrals, which creates even more opportunities for growth.
-Milo Cruz, Freelance Writing Jobs
Optimize and Build Your Social Media Presence
Impress clients and attract new ones by building a better social media presence, a crucial step in raising brand awareness. Collaborate with content creators and other brands for better reach, which also creates word-of-mouth marketing. Behind the scenes, you’ll want to respond as quickly as possible to queries on your most active social media accounts. In addition, reach out to potential clients through these platforms by regularly featuring your services.
-Kevin Joubin, Branded Surveys
