Top Practices To Use For Market Research

Top Practices To Use For Market Research

As sourcing experts, we are always leading statistical surveying to support our customers’ needs. On the off chance that we are appointed a project in a spend category we are new to, we must research the category so we have the market intelligence to make educated recommendations. When a project is in progress, we examine suppliers in the industry that would be a solid match for the project requirements. In the event that we are tasked with a benchmarking activity, we direct research to accumulate rate cards and comprehend industry trends that would affect our customers. These are just a couple of reasons sourcing experts do research every day; accordingly, it is vital that we are equipped with the right tools to conduct research proficiently.

Here we share some tips and practices we’ve developed at ProRFx to better conduct market research.

Be Open-Minded.

When you are given an research topic, you create assumptions about the path you research will go based on your current knowledge of related topics.

It is vital to utilize these initial thoughts for a plan of attack for how you will approach your research topic. Then again, it is vital to stay open-minded to new directions your examination may take. Having tunnel vision about the course your search  should be taking can keep you from investigating other options that may lead you to the answers you are searching for.

Search from Every Angle.

While you have to stay open to your search possibly changing courses as you advance, these alternative courses may not generally be obvious. As a rule, we need to strategize how we will find these distinctive ways to discovering the solutions for our examination needs. Here are a couple of tips we have created for ising alternative means to discovering your search results:

  • As you read through different sources, make note of basic expressions and terms that are significant to your topic – these keywords can prompt results you generally would have missed.
  • Similarly, when conducting research on a particular industry, take a gander at suppliers’ websites to see how they depict their industry and the terms they utilize.
  • When identifying alternative suppliers, on the off chance that you notice a supplier promoting that they have won an award, verify whether any of the past winners of that award meet your requirements.
  • Use the embedded hyperlinks and references in the sources you are finding as a method of going straight to the source of the data.
Know When to Stop.
One of the greatest struggles while doing research is knowing when to stop. On the off chance that you are not discovering the data you are looking for, it is hard to know when to continue looking versus when to quit. Here are some tips to help you decide what to do.
  • Think of the amount of time you want to spend on this research. If you’re spending time on this research than you planned, you might want to think of taking a step back.
  • Instead of trying to finish all your research in one long period of time, try breaking up your research into different time increments. This allows you to have time to clear your mind and allows you to come up with new ideas or a new direction for your research.
  • If you are not finding the results by following a certain approach, change the direction of your search.
  • Consult your colleagues, they might have suggestions for you and your search.
Validate Your Sources.
Most importantly when conducting research for customers, verify your sources of information. In the event that you are utilizing a website as an asset, examine the creator to verify they are legitimate sources. Also try to find the same information leading you to the same source to confirm that the data is credible and make sure the data is up to date. The data should not be older than 10 years or else your customers might not think that data is accurate or relevant.
Remember that having the right resources and best practices available to you for market research is crucial to supporting customers and their needs. Finding the correct way to perform Market Research will make your eSourcing platform that much simpler.

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