When we think of Market Studies, we normally imagine projects in the segment of attention to the final consumer. An example of sectors of this type is retail. Carrying out these investigations normally implies that we contact a large group of consumers in order to obtain statistically valid conclusions.
However, there is another sector that is also of interest to analysts. This is the Business-to-business or B2B segment. In this category, we work with companies that have interactions with other companies. Addressing this consumer segment presents some additional challenges to any traditional project or study.
For this reason, today we list four characteristics that we must not lose sight of when developing or planning a study with this type of participant.
Sample size. In general, in studies that involve the participation of entrepreneurs and managers, the size of the population is usually very small. That is why we cannot think of most scenarios as probabilistic samples. Of course, if there are areas in which the size of the universe allows establishing some probabilistic sampling, it could be chosen. Otherwise, recruitment methodologies such as snowball and invitation through Associations and Sectoral Chambers are used.
Profile of the interviewees. When we carry out studies with consumers, as a general rule it is to a certain degree easy to access a significant number of them because the filters for collaborating with us are not usually very rigid. Likewise, and as we pointed out in the previous point, there is a significant number of potential participants that we can question. However, when we work with companies, this is different as we are looking at participants who have very busy schedules. Due to the above, more time and resources have to be invested to persuade them.
Contemplate attractive incentives. The gifts that are contemplated for ordinary people will not help us when it comes to thanking businessmen for their collaboration. These people really do not need these. Therefore, other types of stimuli should be considered as some kind of information or data that may be useful when making their decisions and that do not compromise the purposes of our research.
Ensure Privacy at all times. When we work with people who are dedicated to directing and managing companies, we must be very careful with the handling of personal and business data. Due to their profile and the activities that these people carry out, they cannot be in the public eye; more in regions like LATAM where an unwanted exposure could result in some kind of damage against you.
It is not easy to find Market Research agencies that manage to work with the B2B sector. We know that it is an area in which we have to redouble our efforts to offer more and better solutions according to the needs of an increasing number of customers.
At Acertiva we are aware of these difficulties and therefore we offer exploratory studies for some business and industrial segments. Come with us so that you know our experience in the field and put at your disposal our already more than 20 years of experience knowing the Latin American markets; Mainly from Brazil and Mexico. Let’s write your next success story together.
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