Ease the Pressure – have you programmed your GPS?

Ben Leet, COO

The insights and data game moves fast. Advances in technology and machine learning have provided the industry with myriad opportunities to innovate. But is your research partner making the most of this new world? Time to check if you’re really road ready.

Annual Service

The first quarter is a good time to check-in on the service you’re receiving from a research partner. It’s when you get to ask the big questions, like:

• How hard has my data been working for me?
• How easy is it for me to integrate my insight into the wider business?
• Did the data allow me to respond quickly and accurately to the changing needs of my business and customer?

If the answers to those questions are: “not very”, “pretty tough”, and “umm, no actually”, then it’s probably time for an update.

The Highway Code

Businesses don’t have time to get lost in winding back alleys or unmapped pathways. With the pace of change businesses face, they need to feel like the road ahead is open, clear and well signposted. They can’t afford to be sat in traffic waiting for their data to flow. They also don’t want to be looking in the rear-view mirror, as time passes, and their data loses its relevance.

Researchers talk a lot about insight, but they still present disconnected data as the output. Brands and businesses need a single version of the truth. They need to be able to see the clear route through to a decision. They need us to be their GPS, but the kind of GPS that works with other systems so that you get off the Freeway/Motorway at the right time, not just as you realise there’s a traffic jam ahead.

Keeping our clients on-track is important, but to do that we have to be road-ready. We have to understand the rules of the road and have mode of transport able to get them to their destination or, increasingly, to help them see where that destination actually is.

The Navigation Test

A seamless ride relies on navigating the right route, including the ability to handle diversions as needed. And it’s the same with your research platform. You need to make sure your partner is able to navigate the right path in real time. You need a platform that ensures Proximity, Speed and Integration.

Proximity

The quality of your data is everything. How close the response to a question is to the action it refers to, provides the level of accuracy. If you’re are asking respondents to remember their decisions from a month ago, how useful is that data going to be? That’s why a platform needs to be ready to capture data at the point of action. It’s why you need to have the ability to ask the right questions in-the-moment. Looking back too far will only give you a fuzzy image in the rear view mirror.

Speed

The closeness of your data to a decision is essential, but so is your ability to access the insights it generates in real-time. For many businesses this is something they’re not used to. They see research and insights as something they order and then they wait for an answer so they can decide on their response. The problem is, if you don’t keep your GPS up to date, when you really need to rely on it, you’re stuck taking the wrong route. The speed of access to insights isn’t just about the ability to get it now, it’s about the ability to have it in the moment of need.

Integration

We don’t want GPS that doesn’t work with traffic alert systems! Great quality data when you need it is a strong start, but the final component is how well it fits with the wider eco-system. Your research platform should speak to your other systems, so the answers you need are ready and already translated. You don’t have time or money to waste on trying to understand what the data means. You need a platform that tells you.

As we continue face the realities of unexpected ‘obstructions in the road’ and the dangers presented by reckless drivers, we need to make sure we’ve planned ahead. Are we fully road-worthy? Have we removed all the bugs we might have in our onboard systems and computers? And have we checked the basics – have we updated the GPS?

To learn more about how Delineate’s platform can keep your business in the fast lane, contact us at [email protected]