Dealing With Hard-Core Market Research Skeptics

(part of Chapter 3: Considering Internal Audience)

 

While we all hope for an accepting reception from colleagues when it comes to research findings, it’s a rare occurrence for everyone to be on board.

Dealing with internal skeptics is no easy task, but a few precautions taken prior to delivering your research findings can greatly reduce disruption risk. Read on to see what you can do to get skeptics on your side.

 

Do you anticipate a lot of pushback no matter what the final project results are? Maybe you are expecting the study will deliver some “bad news”? If so, there are a few things that can minimize resistance to research results.

1. Get audience input early. The first step is including people early in the research design process. I’m not saying that you want a committee of 30 people participating in questionnaire draft reviews; that’s crazy and can only lead to disaster.
   
   Still, at the kickoff meeting, make sure you’ve got people from all the relevant lines of business, divisions, or departments who can participate in generating hypotheses or key questions that will drive the instrument design process. If you include these people early in the process, there’s a lot less risk they’re going to challenge the results at the end. After all, now they’ve got some vested interest in it. If you listen to their input, you can incorporate at least some of it, and your research report should reflect this.


2. Address likely criticisms before they do. Another way to head off end-of-project cynicism is to be very careful about how you describe the sample population to your audience. One of the greatest areas of cynicism at the end of a project occurs when somebody doesn’t like the results and immediately concludes, “You must have talked to the wrong people. You obviously didn’t talk to actual customers. You clearly talked to people who weren’t qualified.”
   
   Hopefully, that wasn’t the case and you can be certain the respondents were, indeed, qualified. Still, questioning respondent quality is a very easy way to derail research results. That’s why this is an important item to ask potential agencies about; you want an agency that has a strong sampling plan, so that when you get asked, you have ample proof points. Then, you really just need a preemptive strike early in the presentation to communicate all of this clearly. It’s usually one of the first slides in my presentations: a statement about sample sources and the qualification criteria used.


3. Remind the audience about cognitive dissonance, or that they can’t have it both ways. I also like to use humor as a preemptive strike. At the beginning of a final results presentation, I often say, “Today you are going to hear a lot of things. You are going to hear about attitudes and behaviors as reported by your prospects or customers. Some results will be consistent with your own experiences with customers and prospects, and the results will basically confirm what you already suspect. However, you might also hear some things that are new, and (with a little bit of humor) you cannot pick and choose. You cannot look at a research project and decide that you believe the things that you want to believe, but anything that you don’t like is obviously false. It doesn’t work that way. Either you buy into the research, or you don’t buy into the research.”
   
   Another good idea for somebody presenting MR results is to remember that ultimately you are only the messenger. You’ve created a research project that gathers and presents the attitudes and behaviors of customers and prospects. Simply point out that you are presenting what customers and prospects have reported.


4. For vocal, hard-core cynics, offer them options for validating the research. If they have an issue with the research results, there are easy ways to gauge whether or not the research results are, in fact, valid. Here are two common approaches:
   • Triangulation. You can triangulate it against other research results. Seek out other related studies, census data, analyst reports, and so on, and look for data points that might show supporting context. It’s a best practice in any case, and one that is often overlooked.
   
   
   • Collect more data. You can select a handful of research participants, assuming you have the rights to do this, and conduct follow-up interviews. This can be used to confirm their validity and give you additional insight into their responses. You also can opt to collect another 100 or 200 responses, and see whether or not you continue to get consistent results. Your internal colleagues might have to spend a bit more money, but if they’re saying that the research isn’t valid, this option can be offered.
   If you offer some options, even your hard-core skeptics should be satisfied.


5. Pre-brief likely hard-core cynics. Give these people a one-on-one sneak peek, and this way you can hear and respond to their issues before the big presentation. They will be less likely to disrupt the presentation if they feel their concerns have been addressed.

 

Self-Quiz: How Ready is Your Audience for Custom Market Research?

Answer the questions below as objectively as possible. With a little reflection, you will find that your answers reveal guidance for both A) preparing your audience for the research process, and B) designing a project that will meet their needs.

• How often are primary MR results presented to this audience? Less than once a year? Less than once every three years?


• What influences your key stakeholders more: detail-rich stories about customers, or hard numbers?


• Are key internal clients likely to actually read the research? Or will they want key take-aways only?


• Are there senior-level people in your company who are MR advocates? Whose endorsement can bring a sense of credibility to the process?


• What is the attitude when discussions of MR come up? Do executives tend to shy away because they think it is a waste of money? Or are they eager to learn more about customer attitudes and behaviors?


• If the research delivers an unexpected finding, how would the executives respond? Would they consider the result? Dismiss it immediately? Ask for backup? Be polite about it but not take action?


• Is your audience more accustomed to syndicated research than custom MR? Do they understand the respective strengths and weaknesses of each?


• Will key stakeholders be willing to invest some time upfront? That is, will they be willing to participate in a kickoff meeting? To participate in milestone meetings?


• Will key internal clients take the time to attend an in-person presentation at project conclusion? Will they need one-on-one debriefs? Will they know how to apply the results? Will they need some post-project support to help make this happen?

 

This is an excerpt from the book, "How to Hire & Manage Market Research Agencies," which is available on Amazon. Published by Research Rockstar LLC. Copyright © by Kathryn Korostoff. All rights reserved.