“The Last Mile”: Empowering clients with market research data

Our CEO Ant Franklin sat down with Sima Vasa of the Data Gurus podcast during the IIeX North America virtual conference, along with fellow guest and Infotools customer Paul Gaudette of Dig Insights. They chatted on quite a few topics, but the heart of the conversation had to do with how the acceleration and adoption of digital technology is affecting what Sima calls “The Last Mile.” Specifically, ways that market researchers can start empowering their clients and facilitate data-based decision making. 

Ant began the interview with a bit of background on Infotools, which has a rich history of 30 years in the market research industry. He says that over the years, the team built many technologies that specifically addressed the challenges the industry faced at various moments throughout history.

Building on this strong foundation, today’s Harmoni platform directly addresses the increasing complexity of data - from all sources - while also presenting data in simple, shareable ways. He discussed some examples of how smart, innovative brands and market researchers are using the technology to help accomplish their goals.

Paul of Dig Insights is one of those clients, and he joined the podcast to share a real-world example covering just how much sense Harmoni makes in today’s research environment. He started the conversation by indicating that his main goal is to empower, enable, and partner with clients to help them access the insights from their own data.

In truth, researchers spend a lot of time and money on data collection. There is treasure there to be uncovered, and unlocking this value and garnering a return on investment from the data is often the missing step. To make this connection, market researchers need to employ technology that is specifically designed for our industry. Paul states that there are various tools out there that allow data analysis and processing but have no good way to visualize the data - and vice versa. Many companies turn to tools that aren’t specifically made for market research data complexities, which introduces a number of limitations. 

Paul needed to find a partner whose platform allowed users to manipulate data, create variables, accomplish charting, and then visualize the data in a presentable, easy-to-understand manner. To truly empower clients, he believes they need to have full access to the data. He said, “This really limits who you can partner with; I chose Infotools because its Harmoni platform could do all of this.”

In addition, all the partners worked together to provide a support network for Paul’s large global client, creating a straightforward step-by-step process on how to access, interpret and use the data, so anyone logging on to the dashboard could get the information they needed. Harmoni proved powerful enough to handle multi-country projects with massive amounts of data while offering individualized views of the data itself for various business needs. 

“I don’t ever want us to be the bottleneck,” Paul says when it comes to clients making data-based business decisions. Harmoni allowed him to streamline his clients' use of their own data to quickly and easily answer their specific questions. He’s found that this approach helps build trust with clients, bringing in further projects as access to more data sparks more questions.

Digital acceleration is happening faster than ever as COVID-19 pushes us forward on a path to innovation, trying to keep up with changing behaviors and global marketplaces. Market researchers are under pressure to deliver insights, so the right technology can spell the difference between success and failure in a future that remains uncertain—time to empower clients and bring data over that “Last Mile” for better decision making.

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