Megann

Go farther together…

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​There’s so much great survey software out there, I’ll just do the project myself!

Does this sound familiar? It can be tempting to undertake all your customer research on your own. After all, who knows your product or service better than you? Why would you ask an outsider to get involved?

Experts bring objectivity

It can actually be quite helpful to bring someone in who isn’t as familiar with your product, your service, or even your customer, as you are. Much like the Buddhist concept of the “beginner’s mind”, a professional researcher adds value precisely because they don’t have the level of immersion that you do. It allows them a certain level of openness, freedom to explore, and license to ask “stupid questions” for which your best customers or prospects might not grant you the benefit of the doubt. How else can they help?

They have a big toolkit, and they know what to use, when

What if a survey isn’t even the tool you need? Just as you are able to work with your customers to provide them with the best solution to their problem, strategic researchers can help you to determine, based on your objectives, the very best research method to use, to get the answers you need. Making a forecast? You definitely need a quantitative approach for at least some of the work. Interested in seeing whether your customers are able to explain your concept to others? A focus group or research community may be a more appropriate tool.

They’re experts in finding the right respondents – even amongst your current customers

Beyond this, experienced research experts work to make sure you are screening for the very best respondents – those who are really able to articulate their opinions and ideas. Moreover, a great research partner will help you figure out whether there is value in exploring sub-segments or groups of individuals who exhibit specific qualities (lots of experience with your product, versus none, for example, or language or cultural groups that resemble your new target market).

When the data comes in, they know what to look for

Let’s say you go ahead and you do host and field a survey on your own. What happens if you forgot an important question? Or if you put a lot of open-ended questions in there, and now you don’t know what to do with all those verbatims? It can be really helpful to have that second set of eyes to look at the questions, pilot, and test them. They can bring their experience to the table in structuring the questions to yield answers that will be useful and actionable. Then, when the answers are in, they are great at separating the “nice to know” answers from those that really go to the heart of your objectives.

They’ll help you build a story that will keep your team engaged

Beyond just asking the questions, research practitioners are also storytellers. They don’t just produce pie charts or pretty pictures – they create a narrative that moves your colleagues from why you asked the questions in the first place, to what it means for your organization, and what you can do with the findings. This will encourage them to ask questions of their own, to be on the lookout for additional clues, and will help keep them from getting distracted by red herrings.

There’s plenty of value in engaging your customers and asking them questions – and in hearing the answers for yourself. It can also be worth the investment to work with a partner if you want to maximize your research ROI. It’s a little like that old adage: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

We’re Megann and Steve Willson, and we’re the Partners here at PANOPTIKA. We work with businesses like yours, to help you get the answers you need and to make better business decisions. You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook, or on LinkedIn, or to get insights, ideas, and better business advice delivered straight to your inbox, use the handy button below.
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Does public data really have value for your company, if anyone can get it?

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Shouldn’t you skip right to your own custom survey? We’re always happy at PANOPTIKA to help you with custom research, but there’s really more to it than that. Even if you’re working in an industry like health, technology, or science (where we do some of our best work), where sometimes there isn’t much data, there’s always some. If you’re a new analyst in one of these industries, or you’re just getting into research for the first time (sometimes, until you start to scale, it’s easier and more informative just to ask the questions yourself), start with free or nearly free. Those public data sets get a lot of use – they’re the workhorses of the quadrant we call “the light”.  The answers there are available to anyone – and that  doesn’t mean they don’t provide you with any value or advantage.
Public data sets or  their slightly more expensive cousins, syndicated data, (which is not public, but is available to purchase by anyone who can pay), are a great foundation. They let you get the “lay of the land”. In “The Light”, you’re setting yourself up for deeper questions, making sure you don’t waste time and money on custom projects, if the information is already out there. Doing a good audit of the data you already have in house is where you can start to use data in ways that others can’t. Think sales data, observational research where you see how customers use your products (or the competition’s), and interviewing everyone in your organization who interacts with your customer or prospect. Where an outside consultant can help, is by assisting you in shaping the questions that you’ll use as you move to what we call “The Shades” – positioning or perception research is a good example. It can help you see where customers put everyone – not only you and your product or service, but your competition. And it can help you get ready to develop insights that are only known to you and your team. Not sure where to start with something like that? We’re always happy to jump on a discovery call. You tell us your questions, and we’ll work with you to lay out a plan to get the answers you need.
 
We’re Megann and Steve Willson, and we’re the partners at PANOPTIKA. We work with B2B businesses to help you get the answers you need, and to make better business decisions. You can also follow us on LinkedIn, on Twitter, or to get insights and ideas delivered right to your inbox, click the handy button, below. 
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What if your business is thrown into darkness?

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©2019 PANOPTIKA INC.
This is the PANOPTIKA Understanding Matrix© – a model that can help you think about where you need more business intelligence, and what kinds. It’s based on the Johari Window, which was developed by psychologists Luft and Ingham, to help individuals to understand themselves and their relationship to others around them. It’s also well suited to thinking about positioning of your product, service, or company, as well as the foundation for your business or customer intelligence strategy.

The Darkness is that area that was highlighted by that famous (infamous) Donald Rumsfeld quote about “unknown unknowns” – Luft and Ingham simply called it the Unknown. Market or product intelligence won’t reveal what might happen there, but there are still things that you and you and your colleagues can do to develop the sorts of responsiveness and resilience that will help you prepare for being plunged into a situation that even the best research couldn’t predict. Scenario planning or war games – developing a whole series of “what-ifs” and the potential results is one way. We also like to use metaphor-based research techniques that free up your thinking. With tools such as Conteneo’s Weave® platform, we can even conduct sessions with remote users around the globe. The unanswerable questions can’t be answered, but anything that gets you outside your normal frame of reference to a place where you can’t rely solely on data can help you be ready to work your way back to the light, when the darkness descends.

I’m Megann Willson, and I’m one of the partners here at PANOPTIKA. We work with clients like you to answer tough questions, and to see everything you need to know to build a better business that lasts. You can connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. And if you could use more insights about how to find, know, and keep your best customers, why not click the orange button and subscribe to our weekly news?

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Be Prepared!

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This post originally appeared in December, 2018, during the holiday season. No matter when you’re planning customer research or collaboration projects, there’s a lesson here for you.

Have you been doing a lot of holiday cooking? We have! But what does that have to do with research and strategy?

Chefs and expert home cooks alike, know the value of mise en place, or assembling all the tools and ingredients you need in advance. Checking your lists, reviewing the recipe, and making sure you haven’t forgotten anything are all vital steps in having a perfect outcome when preparing a special dish. Dealing with your next research project or customer collaboration is no different. If it’s your first time, you might want to consult with others who have tried the same thing, to see how things turned out. You can consider whether, the last time you did this, there was something you learned that you might adjust. And you can even give some thought as to how you’ll serve the results, and who will be at the table.

As a trusted research and strategy partner to our clients, PANOPTIKA helps them put everything in place before we begin, just like assembling the mise en place. Whatever you’re planning for 2019, take time to be prepared in advance, and it’s sure to turn out a whole lot better than it would otherwise.  If you’d like to explore an information audit, so you can be ready for YOUR fresh start, let’s talk.

I’m Megann Willson, and I’m one of the Partners here at PANOPTIKA. We’ll help you make better decisions by seeing everything laid out in an organized way. For more insights into your career and business decisions, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Then click the orange button to receive weekly news you can use, along with our latest offers.

 
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A gift for all seasons: curiosity

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This blog was reposted in January, 2020

Curiosity killed the cat? Maybe, but it can make you more creative and innovative at work.

One of the best gifts you can bring to your work, whether you’re just starting out, or you’ve been working in the same field for a very long time, is curiosity. Giving yourself permission to be curious can help you solve problems more creatively, demonstrate engagement to colleagues and customers, and keep your work interesting when others feel like their occupation is nothing but a grind.
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So how can you stay curious? Here are just a few ideas to keep your curiosity active all the time:

  1. Ask the “how might we” question whenever you encounter a problem (or someone else brings one to the table). You’ll find ideas that move you toward solutions.
  2. Think about the “opposite game” you might have played as a kid – when you have a strong opinion, ask yourself what would have to change, for you to believe the opposite. Then use that to reframe your narrative in a way your opponent can better understand.
  3. Explore the “why” when you’re working on a process – why have we always done it this way? Why couldn’t that change? You’ll challenge your paradigms and open doors to fresh thinking.
  4. Be a reporter – when explaining an idea, imagine you’ll need to explain it to someone who knows nothing about the topic, and find ways to tell the story that includes all of the 5 W’s – who, what, when, where, why. (Bonus points for how!) The toughest parts to explain are where curiosity can help you learn the most.
  5. When meeting with customers, the words “show me” can help you understand how they use your product, what challenges they are encountering, or what’s delighting them about a competitor’s offering. 

We’re always curious – so if you need answers, we can help you ask the right questions, or we can work with your team to make sure their curiosity is always in excellent working order.

I’m Megann Willson, and I’m one of the partners here at PANOPTIKA. We work with clients like you, to help them see everything they need to know to build a better business, so they can find, keep, and know their best customers. For more content, you can follow us on social media like Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook. We send a collection of curated content every Friday to our subscribers. There’s a button for that, below.

 
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Are you A Collector, or an Explorer?

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This post was updated in January, 2020

Sometimes when we work on research with a client, they are very familiar with a specific kind of tool, or they have a strong understanding of how to understand a certain kind of data. Surveys are a good example. Most of us like the certainty of surveys – we can understand the statistical value of the data, the numeric nature of data makes good charts, and it can be organized and displayed in incredibly beautiful and insightful ways. When you use a survey, you’re a collector of data. Oh, you might add a few open-ended questions, but the bulk of everyday survey work is about things you know, and figuring out whether you can make a great discovery by connecting them, or organizing them in different ways, or by gathering new (but finite) facts. How many trees are in this photo? How often does the river overflow its banks? At what time is the light best for a photo like this one?

On the other hand, when you use qualitative research, it’s more like being an explorer. You don’t bother to guess what might be around the corner – you explore. You might do that observationally, by taking a walk in the woods or along the river’s edge, and taking photos, or making notes. Or, you could ask the person in the photo why they’re here. What led them to this spot? Have they explored here before? Are there things that might have been helpful on their journey so far?

The thing is, it’s difficult to be a collector and an explorer at the same time. The first requires precision, a certain fore-knowledge, and many data points to validate. The second requires a sense of wonder, an openness to the idea that the answers my not be easily quantifiable on a chart, but delivers a richness and depth of understanding that is hard to see  in a pie chart. Both are necessary, and each kind of understanding of your customer, your market, your operations, deserves your attention and care. When you have big questions that need answering, think about whether you need to be a collector or an explorer, and it will help you decide how to structure your research in a way that matches with the hat you’re wearing for this project.

I’m Megann Willson, and I’m the CEO and one of the Partners here at PANOPTIKA. Our company name means “see everything”, because we help our clients see everything they need to know, to make better decisions. If you’re wrestling with the right kind of approach to get the answers you need so you can find, know, or keep more customers, we can help. For more ideas like this, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook – and if you want insights delivered direct to your inbox, you can subscribe by clicking the orange button, below. 

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The two best gifts to give your customer this holiday season…

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…or any season! This post was updated in February 2020.

As the holiday season approaches, companies (and especially your sales team) start thinking of ways to thank, or give back, to your best customers. You can send them cards. If their corporate responsibility code allows it (and yours does), you can send them tokens of your appreciation. Some companies send sales incentives, wrapped as “gifts” and tied with a bow. (We’re looking at you, Black Friday). 

​Here’s are a couple of gifts you can give to customers and prospects, all year long: ​active listening​ and ​empathetic engagement​. How can you do that?

​Visit them at their workplace, and ask them what problems they’re trying to solve, and how they’re trying to solve them now. Not what problems they’re trying to solve with the tool you have on offer, but simply an opportunity for you to walk a mile in their shoes. Save the solutions for later.

​Ask them questions in a way that’s easy for them – let them answer in a way that’s comfortable, conversational, and that allows them to say, “that isn’t even the right question!”

​Make it easy for them to contact you – however they want. Let them call, write, email, engage through social media, or even send a carrier pigeon (ok, maybe not that). When they do, respond, even if you don’t like what you’re hearing, or if your answer must be, “we’re sorry, but that’s not a problem we’re able to solve”. (Bonus points if you can point them to someone who can).

​If your team needs help asking hard questions, needs training on how to choose the best research approach to solve their problem, or wants a facilitator to help bring it all together, we do those things. But for today, we’ll just wait patiently and ask, what’s up with you, and what problems are you trying to solve these days?

I’m Megann Willson, and with my partner, Steve Willson, we’re PANOPTIKA. We work with our clients to help them see everything they need to know to find, understand, and engage with their customers. And we’d be happy to help you. You can find us on social media like Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook. Or you can get news delivered right to your inbox, every Friday…just subscribe with the link below. Got a question and not sure if we can help? Give us a call. You can find all the ways to contact us right here on the website.

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Which way should we go?

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This post was updated on January 15, 2020…it seems clients are still wrestling with how to make decisions when so much seems so uncertain…

Are you having difficulty knowing which move to make next? Maybe you’ve even undertaken a number of rounds of research, and yet the way still seems unclear. Sometimes when this happens, it’s because more than one course of action seems reasonable. Other times, it’s because every possibility comes with risks that make some of your team (or you) uncomfortable. What can you do?

​In these situations, it’s important to get back to basics. Clearly identify the decision you need to make. Then, list only the answers you need, in order to make that decision. Don’t get side-tracked by “nice to know”. It’s rare that you can make a strategic move on one set of data, or using one sort of research tool. More likely, you’ll need to combine several screens or frameworks. The good news is that this doesn’t always have to be costly. Setting your priorities and conducting an audit of data you already own, will allow you to focus your resources on only sourcing the “mission critical” answers. Setting a plan in advance as to what frameworks you’ll use to guide your decision, depending on those answers, is the final piece of the puzzle.

I’m Megann Willson, and I’m one of the Partners here at PANOPTIKA. Whether it’s creating frameworks to help sort through key pieces of customer insight, undertaking research audits or leading workshops to teach clients how to do that for themselves, or finding data that approximates data sets their head office uses but that aren’t available in their jurisdiction, we help our clients see everything they need to know, to make better business decisions. 

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What can we learn from success

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This blog was updated and reposted in January, 2020.

We hear a lot these days about learning from failure; fail faster, fail often.  That’s often a good thing, as long as you are learning why you failed. Back in my Engineering days we referred to this as “Root cause failure analysis”. The theory being that if you understood the failure, you would not repeat it.

I propose that we turn our faces to the sun and conduct more “Root cause SUCCESS analysis”.

It’s human nature, when we win it’s because we did a great job, we got everything right, it’s all because of me!

But what if it’s not?  What if you won because the competition didn’t actually play in this game? What if you won, but you left a lot of money on the table?

It’s important to look at your success through the eyes of your customer because you and your team are inherently biased.  And what if you discover you don’t have all the information you need? Start with a clear inventory of what you know, and what you don’t. Then look for a partner who can bring fresh eyes to the project. Bringing 20/20 vision to your “Root cause success analysis” in a good start.  We can help.

​I’m Steve Willson, and I’m one of the Partners at PANOPTIKA. We help our customers to see everything they need to know to make better decisions for their business. You can find more insights from us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. For weekly insights delivered directly to your inbox, sign up using the orange button, below.

 
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Is your campaign tired? Or are you?

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Look at those fresh new messages and materials. So exciting! New initiatives to launch. Shiny new toys to play with. But winter has dragged on, and your spring-themed campaign seems ill-timed just yet. The tools and techniques you’ve been using seem tired and trite. Or are they?

Marketing and sales often encounter a kind of ennui with their campaigns just before the change of season – and especially if the season doesn’t seem to be changing as fast as it should. The common refrain is, “Our customers are tired of this! We’ve told them all about this already!” The reality is, you are not your customer’s only focus. (There, we said it. Right out loud.) So while it may be true that they’ve heard your message, and that they’re not sure you’ll have anything new to say, this doldrums of delivery that you’re in, is something you can change. In fact, it may not be that they are bored at all…it may be you who is just tired of sounding enthusiastic about the same old message. What are you to do?

Bear in mind that in sales, marketing, customer service…nearly anything that requires you to be customer-facing, attitude is altitude. Look for ways to recharge your batteries so you can put one last push on, before spring really does arrive. Start integrating a few new spring pieces of clothing into your wardrobe. Get a new haircut. Launch a new fitness routine. Begin a course that will make you sharper for the upcoming season. All of these will give you a feeling of accomplishment that will lift you up.

Next, check your assumptions. Visit clients and get a recap of their recall of key messages you’ve delivered this cycle. Make sure you correct any misperceptions so you’re starting from the same page when new selling models or tools are introduced. Consider any knowledge gaps as you visualize who is ready to receive the message of your next campaign, and who can use just a bit more personal attention to get them there.

Lastly and most importantly, remind yourself and your team of your achievements. Consider a celebration and final team incentive challenge as you wind down winter and get ready for spring. Because although it might not seem like it on a stormy day, the sun really is on its way.

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