Consider the time, effort and money your business spends on sales presentations, promotional strategies and new delivery methods. How many of these actually produce results? Probably less than you’d like – maybe a lot less. But since you know your business, and you know your customers, what’s the problem? Chances are, you know less about both than you think.

Ask any management team how their employees feel about working for their organization and they’ll give you their opinion – ask the employees and they’ll give you the facts. The same is true when it comes to customers: you may think you know what they want and need, but do you really? Try asking them. You’re bound to come across more than one revelation about their buying motivations, intentions and preferences.

How can we get so out of touch when we’re immersed in day-to-day business? By being immersed in day-to-day business! That said, recognizing this fact can be a huge competitive advantage – if you take action:

1. Use It or Lose It!
   Acquire and use current information – don’t rely on the Customer Survey from 2002! Information does have a shelf life. In fact, if you hang on to it for a year before you act on it you might be better off starting again. Customers change. Their industries change. What they want can change. What your competition offers changes – and that just may change what customers want and expect once again.
2. Check the Pulse
   People are the life-blood of your organization. If you want to hire the best people, you’d better understand what it takes to attract and retain them and what they need to do their jobs better. Find out these things as well as why they stay with your company (and why they don’t) by conducting regular employee surveys and ensuring exit interviews are mandatory.
3. Different Egg – Different Basket
   There are many ways to gather vital information about customers, employees, prospects and competitors. Focus groups, telephone surveys/interviews and online surveys are popular and effective, but there are benefits and pitfalls to each. Focus Groups can provide valuable information when an experienced facilitator is involved, but the number of participants is low and the cost is high. Telephone surveys typically have a larger number of participants but the higher the number, the higher the cost. Mailing hard copy surveys and/or email surveys can be completed at minimal cost but response rates are typically lower.

How do you determine which method to choose? You don’t. The best information gathering programs – whether internal, external, customer or competitor focused – are comprised of a variety of research methods. Used at different times throughout the year with effective data capture mechanisms behind each, they allow information to be gathered and analyzed on a regular basis. This allows comparisons to be made which can identify trends that have a critical effect on strategic planning and decision-making for your business.

If your intelligence gathering is ad hoc, and/or you know your organization’s information is dated, there’s no better time to do something about it. Create a process, or have one designed specifically for your business. Implement the process for twelve months, then compare what you know at the end of the year with what you started with. More than likely you’ll be doing a number of things differently – and better.