There is an emerging behaviour known as WTF
There is an emerging behaviour with CPG clients known as WTF. This starts with OMG, having left LOL a long time ago. We often get a call after WTF when the client asks us to help them to fix the work that hasn’t delivered what they expected. Smart companies know that buyers remorse is a debilitating emotion that causes even established teams to fracture.
Companies in this position have to over-invest to get the most from the research because expectations were mismatched. We are always happy to have these client conversations as it allows us to understand client expectations vs delivered outcome.
In today’s market, Insights seem to be the problem child. Today we are finding clients reaching out to us to help them optimise the insights work they have had recently commissioned.
We often find that the disconnect is not the fault of the insights company nor the commissioning CPG, it’s due to the problem being incorrectly identified at the start.
Sometimes, during project creation, the wrong objective is identified which can lead to a disconnect between the quantity of data received vs the quality of the insights expected. Often clients are looking for insights to find the issue and often they receive data that tells them what they already know.
The client has already gone through the following three emotional stages before that call us:
- guilt
- anger
- deflection.
By the time we meet the client, they have their “how can we fix this”, head on.
To avoid this happening, we need a little bit of forethought, planning and diligence. This is nothing new. We all know this, but you’ll be surprised how many teams ignore this part of the commissioning process.
Experience tells us that research should explore existing hypotheses as opposed to a wide exploration of the unknown.
So ask yourself what were your expectations of the research that you have just undertaken? Has it delivered what you expected?
So why are we called in? We are not a research agency, but our clients tell us we great listeners and solution finders, above all we are pragmatists. We will help you optimise the return you will get from your spend.
We think that’s why we get a seat at the table.
