The difference between a test and a trial

In the last 16 months we have completed a lot of free trials of vypr. By lots I mean over  100 separate trials made up of  around 5 vypr 'steers' per trial.

In the vast majority of these prospective clients have made use of vypr to answer some current insight need, typically  but not always to help validate and improve NPD at some stage of the process.

Overall I have to say it's worked for us, prospective clients have been able to try vypr for no risk, learn to appreciate and value what we do and then usually become paying clients.

I can't escape the nagging feeling that most of these trials weren't really tests though. Fundamentally a business like ours only has value if the data we generate is accurate and very few of our clients tested that.

We have worked incredibly hard, with some world leading scientists and intimidatingly smart people and  have performed test after test to ensure that we can provide accurate predictive data  but that's difficult to prove, and there's the rub.

With only 2 exceptions our free trials have been used to provide data needed now, which means that the accuracy of our results cannot be validated by the client, at least not for months even years. So even if they liked the vypr user experience, trust us and trust the science it isn't really a test, which means we can't really pass!

The 2 exceptions, one a manufacturer and one a retailer  used the free 'steers'  as a test rather than a trial. They asked questions on vypr for which they knew the answer, testing our predictions against EPOS data of recent launched products. In both these tests we performed wonderfully and those 2 businesses are amongst our most loyal customers, if only I were allowed to publish the data!

There are a plethora of 'survey' tools available online now, and clearly I  have an agenda here, but  many people use or have used insight and research tools that they have never  tested.

The point of this, other than sharing my frustrations, is a challenge and a question. Have you tested your insight and research tools and if not how do you justify using them?