Choosing a credit union market research company is no easy task. There are several options available and if you have not worked with a firm before, it could become difficult to understand what makes one credit union market research company better than another. 
First off, making a decision to use market research is a good one regardless of what firm you choose to work with. Market research provides you with the confidence in your decisions which are based on facts and evidence. Whether it is conducting feedback with members, reaching out to non-members to understand your brand equity, or conducting follow-up surveys after a member opens a new account, the data is invaluable.
Market research provides a credit union with feedback from those who matter most: your members or non-members. You may have internal beliefs or gut feelings about what members like most, what needs to be improved, or what messages to use in your marketing but unless you reach out and ask, you will never have statistically reliable information.
Here are some items to consider while your credit union is choosing a firm.
When it comes to choosing a credit union union market research company here are 4 factors you should consider before jumping on board.
Factor 1: Past Experience with Credit Unions
New perspective can help. Sometimes it can prove useful to bring in a consultant who can offer new visions and strategy for a credit union. However, you want to make sure you are working with a credit union market research company that has experience in the financial services realm. This should include other market research conducted for banks or credit unions.
Ask for case studies like these:
Learning and applying this knowledge to future credit union market research projects is helpful. Understanding what has worked and what has not worked with other credit unions can provide a credit union market research firm a leg up for you.
Factor 2: Having a Process in Place
Regardless of industry, the credit union market research firm should follow-up a process. Make sure they have a standard step-by-step execution in place for the project they can share with you. Having a process eliminates the chance of mistakes and issues. It also ensures the firm is held to a timeline.
This process should involve multiple steps outlined in the proposal. At Drive Research we use an exclusive process from start-to-finish. This includes a proposal, kickoff meeting, workplan, survey draft, survey programming, survey testing, fieldwork, analysis, and reporting.
Factor 3: Offering a Consultative Approach
When hiring a market research firm, do not hire one who simply executes a project and collects data. Far too many firms exist that conduct a survey for you, send you a data file, charts, and graphs and the engagement ends.
Work with a firm that will take the extra step and analyze the data, pull insights, and make recommendations. The feedback you receive will be overwhelming. The credit union market research should work to make this digestible.
The true value of market research is not the data. It's the actions and recommendations that can be taken from the data. These are changes based on the feedback. It drives improvements at your credit union, helps you understand what messages to market, and provides you with your competitive differentiators.
Factor 4: A Comprehensive Report
The market research process is a service-oriented engagement. Outside of the survey draft or interview guide, the final report is the only true deliverable in the process. This report is the file that will be combed through, reviewed extensively, and revisited time and time again at your credit union. Make sure you work with a credit union market research company who can deliver a top-notch report at the end of the project.
Again, you should be looking for more than just charts and graphs. No one wants to receive a data dump and be forced to migrate through thousands of data points on their own. Our market research at Drive Research includes an executive summary of themes, recommendations, an infographic, member or non-member persona, next steps in market research, and an appendix of question-by-question results. The firm you choose should offer something comparable.
Ask for a blinded or example report. Here are 3 benefits to viewing a blinded report.
Contact Our Credit Union Market Research Company
Drive Research is a market research company. Although our credit union market research company is located in Syracuse, NY our team works with credit unions across the country to assist them with their market research needs.
Contact us at [email protected] or call us at 315-303-2040.
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