How can you grow your business? What products, services, and/or markets might provide opportunities? Market research is an integral step in assessing your company’s competitive advantage and key opportunities. Gathering and analyzing essential data on customers, competitors, supply chains, industries, markets, and trends provides companies with the information they need to make informed decisions, mitigate risk, and grow their business.
The MEP National Network’s experts guide companies in this process and help create a picture of opportunity for them based on data, study, surveys, and analysis including:
- The realities of your marketplace
- The true opinions your customers hold about your products
- The technical opportunities that might exist to solve persistent challenges
- The markets that align with your capabilities and offer growth
- The status of your competitors
Research
A wealth of information is available for manufacturers to study the market landscape and gather essential insight into your company’s industry and market opportunities today and into the future; however, few companies have the resources to delve into what’s there and make knowledgeable sense of the data. MEP Center experts offer an on-ramp for your company to access this and use it to your advantage.
Primary research examines industry-based knowledge and statistical information and studies the landscape using market trends and data. Specialists can evaluate the upward and downward movements of your target segments and industry over time and determine the markets that might best align with your capabilities for growth.
Research can also uncover technical opportunities to solve persistent challenges or get your products into new markets. It can identify needs, key drivers, and the competitive environment to not only enter new, but better serve current markets, launch new products, and foresee customer demands.
Converting Research into Business Intelligence and Strategy
Market intelligence shapes and analyzes market research to improve business operations and make data-driven decisions on what opportunities exist in the markets you want to explore, which opportunities are most promising, and how you should pursue them. This translates to insights on potential new customers, products, and targeted industry opportunities so you can convert information into action.
The MEP National Network’s market research and strategic planning experts help their clients shape research into plans viastrengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analyses, readiness assessments, market entry strategies, and other tools to undertake new challenges while maintaining strength in your current markets. Research-based market intelligence allows you to identify success factors, potential challenges, and hidden opportunities to propel your business forward while mitigating risk.
Voice of the Customer
An integral component of market research comes directly from current and prospective customers. From accurately measuring true customer satisfaction to gauging new product potential and improving messaging, customer research is key.
Customer surveys and questionnaires provide quantitative data, while focus groups and in-depth one-on-one interviews fill in important qualitative findings of behaviors, motivations, and emotions that complete the picture for your business operations and opportunities. Most businesses do not have dedicated staff for these efforts and turn to The MEP National Network to provide the expertise and staff to conduct the research, analyze the results, and apply them to a business strategy.
You’ll learn how to leverage your strengths, address weaknesses you may not be aware of, increase customer satisfaction, deliver value, and set your company apart from the competitors.
MANTEC’s strategic growth resources were integral to increasing Pacer Pumps market penetration. Pacer Pumps has created new products and revenue streams and identified more progressive ways to get products in the hands of consumers.
—Kent Zollner, General Manager, Pacer Pumps
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For more information or assistance with market research, please contact your local MEP Center.
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