How is the market research department organized?

Market research is a problem that puzzles many marketing managers of small and medium-sized enterprises: in terms of manpower, there are neither full-time marketing personnel nor independent marketing departments; Financially, you can't afford a professional market research company ... and market research is impossible. If you don't do it, you won't know who you want to please, what he is thinking and doing. If you don't do it, you won't know what your competitors have done in the past, present and future. Here, the author talks about his own experience. First, the responsibility of market research for SMEs Generally speaking, SMEs do not have an independent and complete marketing department. As for the responsibility of market research, some people say that it should be done by the general manager's office, while others say that it should be done by the sales department. In my opinion, in the absence of an independent marketing department and there is no plan to set up a marketing department in the near future, it is best to hand this work over to the general manager's office and be responsible by full-time information personnel. This has three advantages: 1. The sales work of many small and medium-sized enterprises is managed directly or concurrently by the general manager. The general manager's office is a staff unit and needs to grasp the market dynamics for the general manager to make decisions. 2. The general manager's office is closest to the general manager, which is convenient for the general manager to guide market research and consult reference market information. 3. As the "central nerve" of the company, the general manager's office is responsible for planning and implementing market research, which is not in contradiction with the basic principles of management. Of course, when planning research activities, we must be market-oriented and sales-oriented, and fully listen to the opinions and suggestions of sales staff. Second, the specific implementation of market research Market research is a complicated work. Even for large companies with independent marketing departments and full-time market regulators, market research work is not "all-inclusive" by market regulators. The job of a market regulator is to plan, organize, guide and control research activities. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the specific implementation work can be carried out with the help of sales staff. 1. The sales staff of the company take advantage of their work to conduct research or temporarily perform research tasks. Salespeople are soldiers who charge the front line. They know the "enemy situation" best and need to know the "enemy situation" most. On the one hand, they can save the company's manpower, material resources and financial resources and get twice the result with half the effort. On the other hand, sales staff can be urged to deepen their understanding of the market. 2. Complete the research work with the help of the company's distributors or agents. In other words, agents and companies are completely consistent in their basic desire to do a good job in the local market. On this premise, the company can plan and guide dealers or agents to do a good job in market research in this area, including the basic situation of this area, the situation of consumers, the situation of competitive brands, the situation of local media, the situation of local government and folk activities. At the same time, the implementation of "dynamic planning", seize the opportunity, skillfully take advantage of the situation, do a good job in local advertising and promotion activities. This not only solves a major problem in the research, but also helps to consolidate the cooperative relationship between the two sides. 3. Collect and study second-hand information. The general manager's office should not only plan, organize, guide and control market research, but also collect and study second-hand information. Although many small and medium-sized enterprises have various professional newspapers and magazines and their own websites, they have failed to make effective use of these valuable resources to make gold from them. The more professional newspapers and periodicals, the better. Just order a few comprehensive and authoritative ones. Through professional newspapers and magazines, the company can know the industry trends for the first time. Your own website should be used effectively, and you can easily query all kinds of useful information by using the network; Online communication saves time and effort. At present, many professional marketing companies have begun to use websites to carry out research activities. Why can't small and medium-sized enterprises use their own websites for market research? Local newspapers and marketing magazines are indispensable. Some small and medium-sized enterprises still attach great importance to professional newspapers, but they are not so enthusiastic about local newspapers and marketing magazines. I think there is something wrong with this practice. Many small and medium-sized enterprises' products are only oriented to the local and surrounding markets. Local newspapers are our eyes and ears, helping us to understand the people and things happening around us. Marketing magazines open a window for companies to learn from other people's market research and marketing experience. Only by learning with an open mind can we make progress. Three. Digestion and absorption of market information As a full-time information personnel of the company, they must have strong planning, analysis and writing skills, digest and sort out market information in time and reach the supervisor. As the management and sales staff of the company, we should actively study the market and give timely feedback in order to improve and cooperate better. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the two most important words are "concept". Whether the marketing manager of an enterprise pays attention to market research or not is completely different. ■ At present, a common problem in small and medium-sized enterprises is that there are neither full-time market researchers nor independent market departments, and they cannot afford professional market research companies financially. What do we do? burnham, a famous American management scientist, pointed out: "Leaders should first ask three questions when dealing with work: Can this work be cancelled? Can it be merged with other jobs? Can you replace it with something simpler? " Can you cancel the market research? The answer is no, it must be done. You don't know who to please if you don't do it. What's he thinking? What do you need? If you don't do it, you won't know what your competitors have done in the past, present and future, and what they will do. Sun Tzu's Art of War said: "Know yourself and know yourself, and you will be invincible. If you don't know yourself, you will win and lose. If you don't know yourself and know yourself, you will be invincible. " This fully shows that the road to victory must be based on a detailed assessment and correct judgment of the situation on both sides. Shopping malls are like battlefields, changing rapidly; Without our own research team and information system, we are deaf and blind. So, how do small and medium-sized enterprises do market research? First, choose the right role. This refers to the protagonist of market research of small and medium-sized enterprises. Who should play this role? In the absence of an independent marketing department and the intention to set up a marketing department in the near future, it is best for the general manager to take the lead personally, lead a group of people in the general manager's office to undertake this important task, and be assisted by full-time information personnel. There are three main reasons: First, the sales work of many small and medium-sized enterprises is managed directly or concurrently by the general manager. As a staff unit, the general manager's office needs to grasp the market dynamics and collect market information for reference when making decisions. Second, the general manager's office is closest to the general manager, and the general manager's office plays a leading role in the research, which is conducive to the general manager to guide market research at any time, consult and refer to market information in time, and revise the decision-making plan. Third, as the "central nerve" of the company, the general manager's office is responsible for planning and implementing market research tasks in line with its overall management responsibilities. Based on the above three points, we have no reason not to let the general manager and the general manager's office play a leading role in market research. 2. What are the responsibilities of market research for SMEs? As decision makers and supervisors of enterprise management, they have the responsibility to: 1, personally and deeply analyze a series of economic problems that customers need. Put yourself in the customer's shoes, pay close attention to the customer, understand the money, time, energy, spiritual cost and expectation that the product or service may pay in the process of purchase, receipt, storage, use and disposal-analyze the customer's needs and preferences, and put yourself in the customer's shoes. 2. In an informal, heuristic and questioning way, take the initiative to directly sample and interview managers and users at all levels in the main customer base, and ask the right people at the right level about their needs and preferences, so as to objectively measure their common and important hobbies-talk directly with consumers (groups) and understand their preferences and needs. 3. Pay special attention to make personal friends with some smart, futuristic and representative customer demand decision makers and communicate directly and frequently. And let them directly participate in the design of products or services as far as possible, so as to explore, understand and feel their future hobbies in real time. At the same time, we can also communicate, discuss and argue with customers, suppliers, intermediary analysts, professional securities analysts, industry journalists and even competitors about their future needs and preferences, so as to make the cake of customer needs and preferences bigger and better with a broader mind and vision-know opportunities, make important customers and special customers, and predict customer needs and preferences. 4. Cultivate the awareness of information collection and utilization. Small and medium-sized enterprises should fully understand the important role of the Internet in the survival and development of enterprises, enhance their awareness of information collection and utilization, improve their production capacity and management level and enhance their market competitiveness through the development of information resources and the effective use of information technology. In the enterprise IT operation network, it is especially necessary to establish a special customer information system and implement customer relationship management-using the latest technology to collect, analyze, store and sort out customer needs and preferences. 5. On the basis of in-depth interviews and surveys, list three or more products or services that are most popular in the industry and other industries in the next 2- 3 years and the reasons for the extraordinary value-added profits, so as to predict the most important demand and preference trends of customers in the next 2- 3 years. Third, be familiar with the law and fully understand the general law of market research: first, mobilize all factors. Market research is a complicated job. Even for large companies with independent market departments or full-time market researchers, market research work is not "arranged" by market researchers. It needs to mobilize the enthusiasm and creativity of all personnel in the enterprise from the general manager down to the salesman and doorman to be effective. Second, build a virtuous circle. Market research should establish a virtuous circle of planning, organization, implementation, feedback, modification, implementation, evaluation and re-planning. Third, rely heavily on sales staff. The general manager and the general manager's office are responsible for the planning, organization, leadership and control of market research. In practice, sales staff should make use of their work to conduct research or temporarily perform research tasks. This is because salespeople are soldiers who charge from the front. They know the "enemy situation" best and need to know the "enemy situation" most. Relying on sales staff, on the one hand, it can save the company's manpower, material resources and financial resources, and get twice the result with half the effort; On the other hand, it can urge sales staff to understand the market deeply. Fourth, help complete market research with the help of middlemen. Dealers or agents are completely consistent with enterprises in their basic desire to do a good job in the local market to obtain the maximum profit. On this premise, enterprises can plan, guide and support dealers or agents to do a good job in market research in their own regions: understand the basic situation, consumption situation, purchasing power level, competitive brands, local media situation, local government policies, principles and attitudes, activities of non-governmental organizations and so on. Zhejiang, a company specializing in the production of ashtrays, relied on middlemen to do market research and achieved great success. This kind of ashtray named "Soft" brand sells well in the international market because of its good texture and shape. However, after a period of time, the products gradually received a cold reception, and the orders decreased day by day. According to the feedback from middlemen, electric fans are generally installed in houses in some developing countries. Turn on the electric fan, and the ash will fly around because the ashtray is too shallow, which is very unsanitary. Accordingly, they immediately trial-produced a new ashtray with a small mouth, a big belly and a deep bottom. Once the product was launched, it was very popular. But the good times didn't last long, because some European and American countries installed air conditioners instead of electric fans, housewives found it difficult to clean ashtrays with small mouths. For this reason, the factory has developed a new model with a deep opening, which is specially exported to Europe and America, and once again seized these almost lost markets. Although small and medium-sized enterprises are not as good as large enterprises in terms of people, money and things. But if we concentrate our limited energy and financial resources on one point, we can innovate and develop advantageous industries. Play new tricks and create new markets. To sum up, set up a market research headquarters headed by the general manager and planned, organized, directed, coordinated and controlled by the general manager's office; Small and medium-sized enterprises form an alliance with salespeople as the main body and middlemen as the auxiliary. Why don't they do a good job in market research? Whether there is a market for products or services ultimately determines the success or failure of enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. If the essence of an enterprise is to compete for profits, then the bounden duty of an enterprise is to do a good job in market research and cater to customers' needs and preferences as much as possible. Realizing the gradual growth of customer service value should be the starting point of enterprise management thinking and behavior.