Customer feedback conflicts with market research. How do you navigate this discrepancy?

Involve your internal or external experts for clarification! The value of data scientists and market researchers is often underestimated. 15% prefer A in one study and only 9% in another, could lead marketing copywriters to claim "almost double prefer A." However, from a scientific standpoint, considering factors like sample bias and confidence levels, there may be no significant difference at all. It’s essential to bring in your experts. If real differences exist, then a deeper dive into the data is necessary. Please also note that customer feedback and market research have different primary objectives: customer feedback enables one-on-one responses, while market research is aimed at understanding the broader population.

I will suggest 1 - analyze both sources of data being customer feedback and market research by trying to understand the broader market trends and insights that the research presents. 2 - identify the discrepancy, as customers feedback may reflect a view of a specific segment while market research might represent a broader audience. 3 - engage with customers directly if possible to clarify their feedback and understand their perspective. 4 - communicate findings. 5 - be prepared to iterate on your products and services based on ongoing feedback and market trends.

Apart from the state-of-the-art software available to validate the quality of data, verifying and validating the correctness of the collected data through a different method is a good step towards assessing the quality of the data collected. Market research is very tricky and if the researchers is not asking right questions, the answers will not be worth analyzing.

To resolve discrepancies between customer feedback and market research, start by understanding their context: feedback is subjective, while research is systematic. Identify patterns in both data sets to spot underlying trends and issues. Ensure both sources are reliable and representative of the market. Combine insights to get a comprehensive view of both client needs and market trends. Finally, communicate these findings clearly with your team to ensure everyone understands how both data sources inform the overall strategy, facilitating better decision-making and alignment with customer expectations.

Evaluate Context: Examine the context and methodology of both customer feedback and market research data. Identify Bias: Recognize that customer feedback can be subjective, while market research is designed to be systematic and representative. Find Patterns: Look for patterns in the data that could explain discrepancies between customer feedback and market research. Summary: Critically assessing the context, methodology, and patterns in customer feedback versus market research helps reconcile differences and provides a clearer understanding of the market and customer perceptions.

Acknowledge Self-Selection Bias: Customer feedback may come from a subset of your customer base, which might not represent the overall population. Consider Sampling Bias: Market research might have sampling issues if the participants don't accurately reflect your target market. Adjust Interpretations: Be mindful of these biases when interpreting data and make adjustments to account for potential skewing. Summary: Identifying and acknowledging biases in both customer feedback and market research helps ensure more accurate and balanced interpretations of the data.

Technically, almost every thing could be biased. The key lies in identifying and eliminating biases. And the focus should be on minimizing the biases. Looking to the situation as represented by Venn Diagram, the analyst may try to draw insights from the degree of overlap of the two circles in the universe. One representing Cust Feedback and the other MR. One extreme could be completely disjointed circles in which case we know that the agency that worked on the data collection botched it. On the other hand complete overlap represents total convergence, which may need to be analyzed accordingly In reality, the picture will be somewhere in between. The analyst needs to draw suitable insights and go ahead.

Una mala elección de los parámetros correctos a medir en una investigación de mercado pueden tergiversar todo el análisis intencionalmente, si a esto le agregamos los sesgos de quién lee esos datos, podemos encontrarnos en una interpretación totalmente errónea de la realidad del mercado y en consecuencia de las decisiones a futuro.

In the final analysis, only practice makes it possible to test hypotheses. Before making changes to the strategy, get repeatable results by re-researching in a short period of time from the first, identifying micro-segments with similar demands, profiles and queries. Receiving identical answers may indicate an unidentified need or an uptrend. Assess the potential business impact of strategy changes. Assess your resources, whether you can afford to change the strategy now, and what costs it will take. The correlation between the hypothetical result and the costs will help to take a decision.

Consider segmenting your audience based on different criteria such as age, location, purchasing behavior, or feedback type. This can help you understand if the discrepancy is due to differences in audience segments. For example, current customers might have different needs and expectations compared to potential customers identified in market research.

Customers need to be engaged in a big way in order to be super successful. This doesn't happen in a day but practiced well, it can be achieved some day. Customers want the moon. But you may not be able to provide it. However, you can help customers refine and iterate their basket with given reality. Once they are ready, you may give them your resources to make what they want, heading towards Co-creation. Production tech today is quite capable to make small lots. As long as the customer displays his willingness to pay, you may consider yourself safe. The costumer also will be safe having engaged with you.

Obtener fuentes de datos amplías y variadas es fundamental para poder leer correctamente los datos ya que será mas difícil que los datos estén sesgados por lo tanto es recomendable que el cliente tenga muy fácil la opción de calificar y proveer un feedback para disponer de mas participación de los clientes y porque no, también de otros stakeholders.

The world is constantly changing So are customer prefs and expectations Your existing product offerings may be unable to meet customer expectations If you wish to be the go-to company for loyal and other customers, you need to work towards it As they say, wake up and smell the coffee, so you need to pick up signals, fads, tends backed with reliable customer inputs And design your product offerings so that you can attract existing and new customers (who may become loyal customers if they repeat their purchase) The speed of collection of data and ability to convert it into products / services for the customer needs be aligned to the extent possible