I have sat through many market research read-outs.
A long deck. Interesting charts. Everyone nods. And a month later, nothing in the plan has changed.
It was not bad research. It was research without a decision attached to it.
The difference, in my experience, shows up at every stage.
The starting point. "Let us understand the market better" is not a brief. "We must choose between two segments this quarter" is.
The question. Broad questions make every answer look interesting. Narrow ones, agreed before the brief, make answers useful.
Who is asked. Not whoever is easiest to reach, but the customers whose choice decides the outcome.
The read-out. Not many slides read once by marketing, but a short answer shared with the team who will act on it.
What happens next. Not filed until next year's budget. The decision is taken, and the plan changes.
One habit has saved me real money. Before approving any study, I ask the team to write down what we will do with each possible answer. If every answer leads to the same action, we do not need the study.
And one line I never cross: research interviews with doctors are research, not a sales call in disguise.
“If no answer would change what you do, you do not need the research.”
Lesson 13 of 17 in Step 4: Distributors and market access, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.