Question: What are the different factors should you consider in choosing the market research agency?

Today the environment in modern business arena is highly uncertain and rapidly changing. Expansion of business operations from home country toward other countries is making the uncertainty more prominent and stronger. This may be due to cultural, political, and legal differences. This makes it increasingly critical for management to keep abreast of changes and to collect timely and pertinent information to adapt strategy and market tactics in expanding local markets. As a consequence, international marketing research becomes essential for effective decision making when organisations start to internationalise toward foreign markets. Organisation not capable of doing by itself can hire research agency to get the market research done. Market research agency will work with organisation to define vision, methodology, and a step-by-step approach.

It should ensure that the business organisation get the right kind of information about consumers and market trends so that it is easy for it to make strategic decisions based on reliable data. It is important to select the right market research agency to get the research work done properly, so that strategic decision based on reliable evidence can be made.

Factors to Consider in Choosing a Market Research Agency

There are so many market research agencies operates locally or internationally, offers similar services, but it becomes difficult to choose one. Organisations need to put in some extra efforts to decide which agency will be best suited to their requirements. Following factors are required to be considered in choosing one the best among the available options.

Timely Delivery and Financial Stability

Organisations needed to make sure that the agency chosen is financially stable and delivers work on time. Turnaround time is critical as far as market research is concerned. At times, it can take too long to deliver the right information so the organisation must ask the agency about it. Must be ensured that the agency have the expertise and experience to deliver the required insights in a fixed amount of time. This is because if the agency stop working halfway through the research, the organisation will have to bear the cost.

Quality Data Collection Techniques

The agency needs to bring the best data collection techniques into use. This is because data not only needs to be collected fast but it should also be of high quality.

Price and Access to Market

Access to market and rate are two more important criteria on the basis of which the organisation can select the right market research agency. It is important to know how much money an agency is charging for its services; however, it shouldn’t be the only factor to consider. Even access to the market is a key factor to consider.

Reputation and Experience

The agency’s reputation and experience also matters. Hiring an agency just because they are offering their services at a low rate is not right. Organisation can ask for recommendations from their sources or do some research on the internet to find out a reliable agency. To find out more information about the agency’s reputation, organisation can look for reviews on the internet. There are several forums on the internet where it can read feedback about market research agencies and make a decision.

Once the organisation have narrowed down three to four agencies, it need to draw a brief, explaining the target market, background and what it is aiming to achieve from the market research. Organisation need to share the brief with the agencies and find out their plans on achieving the said targets. Once the organisation have this data, it can compare all agencies and make a final choice.