Market research has the ability to uncover hidden trends within your organization, target audience, current customers, non-customers, and competitors. Similarly, a market research proposal will unveil the best approach in which a market research company will help you find what you are hoping to achieve.
How do you go about getting a proposal from a full-service market research company? Look no further! Contact us, today and we’ll respond to your request quickly.
If you are just looking for more context around what type of information you should expect to receive in a market research proposal – we have that, too! Keep reading.
No matter the type of industry, audience, or project objective – a market research company will find the answers you are searching for.
- Are customers or members leaving your financial institution for a competitor? Consider creating a close account survey.
- Are you a restaurant hoping to understand what it is like to eat at your establishment? Try a dine-along or intercept survey.
- Are you launching a new product and looking for insight into how your target audience will react? Focus groups will be your holy grail.
There are hundreds of market research methodologies to choose from. It is the assistance of a market research company that will give you direction and insight into what approach will be the most effective. The project objectives, approach, and deliverables will be explained in a market research proposal.
Where can you get a proposal for a market research project? What type of information can you expect to find in a market research estimate? Our market research company has you covered!
What is the research project objective?
Typically before receiving a market research proposal or quote, a market research firm will ask you a few questions to better understand why you are looking to conduct market research.
This provides the marketing research company with a closer look into who you are hoping to target (gender, age, geo, income, etc.) and what type of information you are hoping to uncover.
A few common market research objectives include:
- Level of customer satisfaction and individual factors driving high or low satisfaction
- Performance on marketing or advertising campaigns
- Customer experience with the company’s employees
- Associations and perceptions of a brand
- Sources of information and content used by target audience
What is the best approach?
Once the market research company has a clearer understanding of your main project objectives and target audiences, they will outline the best market research methodology or methodologies for your specific requirements.
For example, an IT company is hoping to speak with C-level decision makers to better understand areas of growth and drive their marketing strategies for the next quarter. In the proposal, a market research company will likely suggest different options and avenues the IT company would want to explore.
In this particular scenario the market research company would likely suggest a combination of different methodologies such as:
The importance here, is having a research proposal with different options and reasonings for why the market research company is suggesting these specific methodologies.
As someone looking for a market research quote, it is helpful to clearly understand how each approach can impact the success of the project. Make sure you are fully comfortable and on the same page with the approach recommended by the market research firm.
What type of questions will be asked during the market research?
The design of a market research project is perhaps the most crucial factor in its overall success. Keeping this in mind, pay close attention to the design component referenced in a market research proposal.
What do we mean by “design?”
The design portion of a market research proposal explains exactly what the market research team will use to guide the project and how they will engage with respondents. If the market research proposal is for a focus group, the design phase should include a moderator’s guide. If you are asking a market research company to send a proposal for an online survey, this will likely be a survey document.
Regardless of the research approach, look to the design phase of a market research estimate to learn more about the type of questions participants will answer and what type of deliverable will guide the discussion.
How many people will be participating in the market research?
Another key element of a market research proposal to review closely is the fieldwork portion.
- How many survey responses or number of interviews is the market research agency promising to complete?
- What specific markets or demographics will be targeted?
- Will there be a soft-launch of fieldwork before fully launching fieldwork?
These details should be clearly fleshed out in a market research proposal within the fieldwork section.
What is the research project’s timeline?
Establishing a clear timeline with a potential market research vendor is pertinent to understanding not only how long the entire market research project will take, but each individual phase, as well.
Typically a timeline within a market research proposal will include the estimated length of time for the following stages:
- Project kickoff
- Setup
- Design
- Fieldwork
- Reporting
This provided timeline also allows you to decide how little or how much you want to be involved in each stage. Perhaps you’d prefer daily updates on project progression. Or, maybe you’d only like to be informed when major stages are complete or at a standstill.
The market research company will comply with whatever communication or involvement level you’d like.
At the very least, the timeline referenced in a market research quote will give you the best estimate into how fast a market research agency can complete a project.
What will market research cost me?
Ah – everybody’s favorite part of a market research proposal. How much will this market research project cost? While every market research company is different, Drive Research understands this is often the most important element of a proposal and sometimes the deciding factor in which market research company you will ultimately work with.
When sending a request for proposal (RFP), our market research company cuts right to the chase. We typically include the overall cost of the market research project on the cover letter of the proposal or in the email in which the quote is attached.
Within the market research proposal itself, you will likely see a breakdown of prices to understand how the market research company determined the final cost. There are a variety of factors within a market research project that can increase or decrease the price: the type of methodology, the amount of people needed to recruit, an offered incentive, etc.
After receiving a market research proposal and realizing the price may be out of your budget, talk to the market research company about how you can adjust this to better fit to the price range you had in mind.
Drive Research is a market research company located in Syracuse, NY. Our team has the knowledge and tools to design a robust market research study, should it be the right fit for your business.
Interested in learning more about our market research services? Reach out through any of the four ways below.
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