In these uncertain times, is research a luxury you can’t afford?

Simply put, no. Understanding your customers is now more important than ever. You also need to understand your ex-customers (to find out why they went away – you may be able to fix a problem easily); your never-became-customers (i.e. those you’ve given quotes to, but who didn’t buy – do you really know why?); your potential customers – to find out what they want.

Now more than ever your customers will be looking for the best value (not necessarily the cheapest supplier), the suppliers that give them the most confidence and meet their needs most closely, and the suppliers that can help them enhance their own businesses. They will be watching the pennies more, so you...

In recent presentations on the value of good market research, we’ve discussed the winners and losers of the pandemic and associated lockdowns.

Among the obvious losers were gyms, but conversely makers of home fitness equipment home – such as Peleton – enjoyed incredible growth.

Last summer (2021), we posed the question about what would happen to businesses like this after lockdown restrictions eased. We suggested that businesses that were experiencing changes should consider getting close to their customers to find out what would happen when things returned to whatever normality was to become.

For Peleton, this would have been useful. Having enjoyed record growth in the earlier stages of the pandemic (around 250% in the first quarter...