Are you providing unrivaled customer service?

Because the business climate in virtually all industries has become increasingly competitive, and the marketplace continues to change, it is even more important for all employees of an organization to demonstrate responsiveness and respect toward their customers. This means developing a whole new orientation toward customer service.

Business in general is becoming much more customer-focused in this new era of ubiquitous technology that allows for instant personal contact. Companies are recognizing that the degree to which they meet or exceed their customers' expectations will dictate their relative success in the marketplace. In order to be customer-oriented, it is important that your people understand these expectations and perform accordingly. It is also important that your people develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable and empower them to demonstrate customer responsiveness and respect.

Two Points of Focus

Unrivaled Customer Service begins with two points of focus, customer expectations and organizational outcomes. Customer expectations fall into two areas: needs and wants. When a customer's problem is solved, his or her needs are met. When a customer is made to feel good, his or her wants are satisfied. Providing unrivaled customer service means that your people understand both your customers' needs AND wants.

The first step in identifying what customers want and need is to ask them. Conducting a Customer Perception Survey to identify exactly how your customers view you is essential to understanding how to satisfy them in the future. Annual customer surveys are a best practice among the top organizations that taut unrivaled service.

Organizational outcomes fall into three areas: quality in fact, process outcomes, and final results. If your organization is not getting the outcomes it needs to survive and succeed, then you risk being marginalized in the market, or worse yet, going out of business. It is critical that you are able to balance customer expectations with organizational outcomes.

The Internal Customer/Supplier Chain

Experience shows that most external customer disappointments are created by internal process problems. Often, people within the organization are not working together to serve the customer. An effective way to deal with this is to clarify the internal customer/supplier chain. Every employee in your organization has other employees who are their internal customers. Everyone also has internal suppliers, people they depend on for support to do their jobs.

Organizations with a focus on unrivaled service work hard to clarify this internal customer/supplier chain. Every person needs to know precisely who his or her internal customers are, and what they need and want. Imagine everyone in your organization focusing on their internal customer, and working together to serve your external customers.

Knowing what your customers need and want and delivering it are two different things. The critical ingredients in are people and processes. First, your people must have the knowledge and skills to serve your customers effectively. Second, your internal processes must be designed for unrivaled service.

If you are trying to differentiate your organization through unrivaled service, we can help. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber). Tweed-Weber can help you identify what your customers need and want, not only today, but in the future, so that you can be the consistent market leader.

Have You Spotted New Customer Trends?

While reading the February issue of Quirks Magazine, I stumbled upon the article “4 customer experience trends for 2014,” and it got me thinking about how with each New Year, new trends are tracked and researched and the things of 2013 are no longer “cool.” This is true with every industry, especially fashion, which turns around new styles each season (sometimes a couple times a season). But how do these new trends of 2014 affect you?

A customer’s experience is the make-or-break for their loyalty with a company. According to the study from New York customer experience management company, LivePerson, consumers are willing to wait an average of 76 seconds for customer service support when visiting a website. That’s 76 seconds for a customer to see if they like, or don’t like, your company.  

Because you only have 76 seconds for a customer to decide your fate, there are some steps you can take to improve the outcome and maintain customers. 

The first is there is always room for improvement. No matter how good one person is at something, there can always be tweaks to make it spectacular. The same goes with any company. In today’s society, consumers are quick to go somewhere else if a deal, service, or product is better – it’s the name of the game. According to Anurag Wadehra, blogger for LivePerson, 33 percent of consumers struggle to help or locate customer service, whereas 49 percent of consumers find websites to be difficult to navigate. By stepping-up your game, those 76 seconds can be a life-changer.

The second is brand trust and loyalty. People tend to stay with or go with companies that have a good reputation and can provide a good quality service. With that said, 78 percent of consumers agree that they will be loyal to a company that provides real-time, one-on-one support. 

The third is, speed and efficiency, especially with our fast-paced society today. Everyone expects to have everything at lightning speed, no matter what the situation. This is especially true with consumers. About three-quarters stated speed and efficiency were the most important factors in creating a great experience.

The last, but not the least, is high-impact moments. How does this affect you? Consumers are looking for anything to help them during their times of need, especially when navigating a website. If you provide the right support, it will be a “high-impact” moment because of the willingness of your company to help them. According to the Quirk’s article, 35 percent of consumers say the actual moment of purchase is when they need the most help. Does your company have an easy, turn-key check out process?

Though this article is driven by trends in the online sector, I thought it was important to write about it because our society is so focused on technology and the impact of this is huge when it comes to companies. It is important to come into the 21st century and adapt to the changes popularized by Gen-Y, since one day they are going to be your biggest customer. As a Gen-Y myself, I know how important it is to have an easy process from navigating a site to check out. I want it to go smoothly and efficiently, and any hiccup makes me go elsewhere. This is true for mostly everyone of my generation because we are used to having everything at the tips of our fingers. How is your company dealing with the shift in technology? Do you think your company is up-to-speed on all of the latest social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging? Maybe it’s time to analyze the inner-workings of your company and see what your employees are saying about this. 

Let Tweed-Weber, Inc. help your company find its strengths and weaknesses to make your “New Years’” resolutions a reality. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber). “With every new year, comes a new you.” We have all heard that saying each time another year flies by, but now with the end of the first quarter quickly approaching, it’s time to look to back and see if the new year really did bring a new you.

About the author: Gretchen Koch has been with Tweed-Weber, Inc. since 2012 and serves as Operations Manager. She oversees office processes and provides quality control on all market research reports and strategic planning documents.

The Five Sources of Cost Advantage

There are five commonly recognized sources of cost advantage – people, material/supplies, processes/systems, facilities, and capital. It is not necessary to focus on all of them in order to experience the benefits of being the lowest cost producer in your industry; any one could be enough. However, by achieving a true cost advantage in more than one source, you further ensure your company’s success.

 

Now, let’s explore each of these five sources and determine the relationship it has on your business.

 

People

 

Many organizations boast that their people are their most important asset. While this may be true, people can also represent the most significant cost to a company when you shift from the balance sheet to the operating statement.

Companies do not become the lowest cost producers by paying their people the lowest wages and benefits possible. They become the lowest cost producers by leading and managing their employees to performance levels that exceed those of their competition. To do this, they continuously focus on enhancing the skills of their people. They create highly flexible employees who are capable of meeting the demands of an ever-changing marketplace.

 

Lowest cost companies create highly disciplined teams who understand their real competition is outside of their organization, not inside. They: 

• tell their people what to do
• support them in their efforts to do it
• measure how well they do it
• reward and/or discipline based on their measurements

Materials/Supplies

All companies use materials and supplies to produce their products or perform the services that their customers buy. Lowest cost companies do not simply focus on the lowest unit price of materials or supplies, they establish purchasing practices that result in the lowest total cost for these materials and supplies.

 

This distinction is essential because the lowest unit price for a particular purchased product may not be the lowest total cost for the same material. Lowest cost companies identify and separate their strategic purchases from their low-risk purchases. They then align their purchasing resources to ensure that strategic material purchases receive the level of attention they deserve. They understand and track their total purchasing costs and work hard to continuously reduce them.

 

Processes/Systems

 

Everything that a company does is a process. From the way it hires to the way it fires, from entering orders to collecting receivables, from manufacturing products or delivering services to the way you ensure their quality, everything that an organization does can be reduced to a series of definable steps. Processes that are linked together become a system. Lowest cost producers design their processes and resulting systems to be highly efficient.

 

Organizational processes and systems can be classified into four basic categories:

• Sales processes – positioning your company and products, generating leads, converting those leads into orders, and entering those orders into your operations
• Operational processes – engineering and manufacturing your products, and ensuring the quality of your products/services
• Distribution processes – getting your products or services to your customers
• Support processes – human resource activities, management information systems, financial management, administration activities (to name a few). Support processes are essential for your sales, operational, and distribution processes.

As a company grows, these processes and systems tend to evolve with it. Lowest cost companies recognize that evolution does not always yield efficiency, and they constantly evaluate and re-engineer their processes to ensure they are performed in the lowest cost way possible.

 

Facilities

 

After people and materials, the most significant cost center for companies is often their facilities. Facilities include physical plant (offices and factories), equipment and technology hardware.

 

Lowest cost organizations work hard to ensure their offices and/or manufacturing facilities are designed to produce the most cost-efficient performance. They invest in the most effective capital equipment to do the essential work of their business. Increasingly, lowest cost companies look for ways to use technology to increase their productivity and reduce their costs.

 

Capital

 

The last (but not least) source of cost advantage is capital. Capital falls into two fundamental categories, money that you have (cash on hand and equity) and money that you don’t have (receivables and credit availability). Lowest cost companies recognize and maximize the advantages that come from effective capital management.

 

What does this mean for your business? All of these sources are just the first piece of the puzzle. The rest is actually performing them. Once all of these pieces come together, the picture it paints will be one that customers can’t look away from. But how does one figure out if all of the pieces are working together? It’s easy; conduct an employee perception survey. This survey is designed to allow you to get into the minds of your employees. It helps you recognize areas that are and are not working. Most importantly, it instills the fact that you care about your employees and the success of both them and the business.

 

If you’re wondering if an employee perception survey is right for you, we can help. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com, and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber).Today, sit back and allow us to do all the work, and help you figure out the perfect picture for your company. No one can guarantee certainty, but market research can guarantee clarity. You will Know More, so you can Do More. 

Understanding Customer Perception is Key to Increased Opportunities

What do you know? Or more important, what should you know? Hearing and clearly understanding the voice of your customer in today’s competitive environment has become an essential and fundamental requirement to future planning. It is ultimately your customer’s voice that matters the most. Successful organizations hear that voice and effectively use it to guide their activities. You may have heard rumors about what your customers are thinking, or even whispers from them along the way, but it is up to you to clearly understand the thoughts and opinions of your customers in order to compete effectively. Your market, and the business environments of your customers, likely have changed significantly over the past few years. The following are just a few examples of crucial information that can be obtained from your customers to see how you can increase your sales volume today.

 

Your organization’s strengths and weaknesses. Does it really matter what you perceive as your organization’s strengths and weaknesses if your customers view them as something entirely different?

 

Competitive information. Recognizing your customers’ opinions about your organization is paramount. Knowing what your customers think about your competition is even better.

 

Unmet customer needs. Your customers are connected to your industry from different angles.

 

Future trends. The state of the economy over the past number of years has been unprecedented. You may have found your industry changing at a pace so fast that it is almost impossible to keep up.

 

Take a moment to consider the importance of customer perceptions on your business and the impact their reality has on your organization. Think also of your organization’s current actions with regard to customer perceptions:

• Can any of the performance issues you face today result from inaccurate awareness of customer perceptions?
• Are your organization’s improvement efforts targeted at addressing critical performance issues as prescribed by your customers?

Many well-run and well-intentioned organizations fall short in these areas. As a result, many improvement efforts target issues that have a relatively low impact on improving customer satisfaction and, therefore, competitive advantage. Management-generated improvement ideas prove effective, but often, and especially in the ongoing stages of organizational improvement, general feelings and intuitions are inadequate triggers for positively affecting customer satisfaction.

  

Many organizations have learned the importance of consistently measuring customer perceptions and satisfaction through a formal customer survey program. A formal process allows customers to share their views about an organization’s performance in a way that is timely and objective, and in today’s market, it is a requirement to staying ahead. Many organizations have expressed a desire to go it alone, but eventually find it challenging to do it in the most effective manner. We have found organizations often ask: 

• Where do I start?
• What method(s) should I use?
• Who should I survey?
• How often should surveys be conducted?
• Who here should implement the surveys?
• How should results be communicated to management?

Our response is simple: we’ll handle it. With nearly three decades of combined experience in market research, our professionals have seen it all and can guide the development and implementation a customer perception survey that will provide an organization with numerous opportunities such as:

• Significant improvement in an organization’s ability to target improvement efforts that will have a real impact on their overall success.
• Improved insight for management and employees into the effects of their actions on customer satisfaction.
• Opportunities to strengthen relationships with key customers.
• Increased business opportunities.

Overall, customer perception surveys can help organizations make strategic decisions, and they provide organizations with a clear understanding of the market’s awareness and perceptions of their products/services. A customer perception survey helps an organization keep its finger on the pulse of a rapidly changing marketplace. 

 

If you’re wondering if a formal customer research program is right for you, we can help. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com and/or visit us on the web at

www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber). The result will be the knowledge you need to make the right decisions to guide your organization into the future. In a world of uncertainty, the ability to clearly focus your organization creates a distinct competitive advantage. No one can guarantee certainty, but market research can guarantee clarity. You will Know More, so you can Do More. 

Happy Employees = Happy Customers?

Recently, a coworker stepped into our “Morning Jolt” – our rendition of a daily morning meeting or catch-up – telling the most horrid story about customer service. After a few laughs and jokes, we discussed how often we find in our clients’ research that bad customer service is linked to employee satisfaction. It’s inevitable. Employee satisfaction is essential to the success of any business.*

In today’s society, most are driven by money and making that money fast, but they fail to look at all aspects involved in achieving success. With every transaction, every product, and every achievement, there is something hidden in the framework – the employees who make those actions a reality. As such, it only makes sense to keep those “little gems” in your company happy, which will aid in your overall business success.

But what exactly makes an employee unhappy? There isn’t always a flashing neon sign saying “I am unhappy with my job.” The reasons are likely to be more subtle – high stress, lack of communication, and/or limited opportunities for growth, just to name a few. In order to be at peak performance, management should focus on these factors to improve the workplace environment, ultimately increasing satisfaction and reducing turnover rates.

In a recent study by Gallup, businesses with higher employee satisfaction also had 86 percent higher customer ratings, 76 percent more success in lowering turnover, 70 percent higher profitability, and 78 percent better safety records.* What do these statistics mean to you? It’s simple: happy employees equal happy customers. They are the scene-setters for your business. They are the ones interacting every day with your most valued assets – your customers.

Every aspect of a company is somehow linked. For example, imagine the inner workings of a business as a spider web, with the spider being the company. Everything revolves around the spider – each thread of the web (department, employee, policy, etc.) is meticulously constructed to provide the utmost support for its daily life. Each intertwines in some shape or form, and any “hiccup” in the daily business functions of the company, regardless of where, could decrease profitability. For instance, when employee satisfaction dips, so does employee performance, affecting everything in the company.

Research from the University of Missouri shows CEOs who pay attention to employee job satisfaction are better equipped to increase customer satisfaction, as well as the volume of customers who intend to do repeat business.** By asking employees their thoughts on key areas in the company, it gives them a voice. It makes them feel like they belong, and that they are shaping the future of the company. This is extremely vital, especially when maintaining satisfaction on all fronts. But how do you go about doing this? It’s easy; conduct an employee perception survey. Employee research gives you the opportunity to identify what is, and what isn’t, working. By honing in on certain areas, such as overall work environment, employee empowerment, and management support, employee research can help change the “web” of your business.

If employee satisfaction research is an area you are interested in exploring, we can help. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber). Tweed-Weber can help you include your employees and their perceptions as a foundation for your continued success. 

* Adapted from http://www.neumann.edu/academics/divisions/business/journal/review2011/gregory.pdf.

 

** Adapted from http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/1039-workers-happy-customers.html.

Creating Long-Term Sales Growth

Whether you make widgets or sell a service, sales growth is always a major issue affecting your company's long-term success. But if you are like many other organizations, how you go about creating long-term sales growth is a daunting challenge. Sell harder? Advertise more? Modify your product or service? What's the most effective path to take, AND how can you do it without spending an inordinate amount of money?

In order to understand how to go about creating long-term sales growth, it's best to get back to fundamentals. The first fundamental understanding involves general market dynamics. If you want your market to buy more from you than your competitors, you need to give them a reason to do so. Is your price consistently lower? Do your products/services better meet their needs? Do you provide better service during and after the sale? Do you understand their business better, or have you established better relationships with their people?

The market is very difficult to predict in many areas. But one area that is predictable is that the market will, by itself, vote for the company that is perceived as meeting their needs the best. And the market votes for the winner with dollars. 

The second fundamental understanding is more specific to your market(s) and your company. What is the nature of your market, its current and evolving needs, and what is your company's perceived ability to meet those needs relative to your competition?

The reason to gain this fundamental understanding is undeniable. As is common with most of us, our perception of the forces and trends affecting our markets and our companies is based on a combination of issues. It is based on our interpretation of various events and situations over time, as well as our many experiences in dealing with those events. Sometimes our interpretations closely match our market's interpretations, but many times they are off base, either by a little or by a lot. If you believe your perception of the market is closely aligned with the market's perception of you without testing that assumption, then you may be in trouble.

Setting sales growth strategies based primarily on subjective perceptions will probably result in something less than what you desire. Furthermore, if you want to get your people behind a strategy, you need to support it with something better than just your good thinking and intuitive prowess.

Obtaining that information is critical. It will serve as the fundamental basis for a strategy to create long-term sales growth. But how do you go about getting that information and what do you do after you've gotten it? That's where research strategic planning comes in and the use of an outside, integrated consulting firm proves its value in helping out.

Research/Information Gathering

Determining market dynamics and your company's competitive advantage is a result of learning your customers' perceptions of their industries, their current and evolving needs, and their interest in companies that are vying to fill those needs (including yours). Normally, this is accomplished through intensive surveying using a number of proven methods. This is best done by an expert, third-party consulting firm. By combining this information with internally generated data, (e.g., sales history, financial performance, etc.) the dynamics of the market and your position within it can be viewed and discussed objectively by your management team. As a result, a consensus can be achieved as to the starting point for determining the sales growth strategy that is right for your company.

Long-Term Sales Growth Strategy Development

Determining the correct sales strategy for your company is the result of combining the work done previously with the fundamental understanding of general market dynamics mentioned earlier. The market embraces the company that meets their needs better than the others. Determining your company's long-term sales strategy will involve defining what those needs are and what you can do to stand-out in meeting those needs in the marketplace.

Think about the affect the activities described previously would have on your company's ability to create long-term sales growth. Your people would see the logic that was involved and be more enthusiastic in supporting and contributing to the company's new and/or revitalized direction.

If you are trying to establish long-term sales growth, we can help. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber). Tweed-Weber can help you include your market(s) and their perceptions as a foundation for your continued success.

Problem Solving and Continuous Improvement

The most important tools you will use to improve the total quality of your organization are the problem solving and continuous improvement process that your organization has adopted. Notice that there is a clear distinction between problem solving and continuous improvement. Each process has a specific definition and a specific application, and it is imperative that you use the right process in the right situations.

Problem Solving Defined
Webster's defines a problem as “a question, matter, situation, or person that is perplexing or difficult.” That definition is fine for grammatical purposes, but it doesn’t help us much with problem solving in an organizational environment. A more functional definition of a business-related problem is “a deviation from the normal or expected for which the cause is unknown and for which one would like to determine the cause and find a solution.” Let’s look at an example to clarify our definition. Suppose, at the end of work today, you get in your car, you put the key in the ignition and turn it. The normal or expected result would be that the engine would start and you would be able to drive home. Today, when you turn the key, nothing happens. That’s a problem. A deviation from the normal or the expected. Do you want to find the cause and determine a solution? Of course. Something happened to cause the problem. Some kind of change took place. By finding what changed, you will find the cause of the problem. The cause of a problem is always found in some kind of change. Find the change, and you have found the cause. Put the situation back to the way it was, and you have solved the problem.

Continuous Improvement Defined
Continuous improvement is defined as “the ongoing process of making small changes in order to improve output or performance.” Continuous improvement is the opposite of problem solving. You are purposefully trying to change the normal or the expected in a positive direction. You are trying to make a change in the system that will cause a change in the outcome. Let’s use the automobile example again. Let’s say you are averaging 19 miles per gallon of gasoline, and you want to increase the fuel efficiency of your car. You begin to look for ways to improve your mileage. Each time you come up with an idea, you make a change in the process of how you maintain or drive your car. This change causes improvement. A series of small changes can result in a big improvement and give you increased fuel efficiency.

There are many different models for problem solving and continuous improvement, but the following are examples of the seven-step processes that your organization can choose to adopt, which are highly effective.

The Seven-Step Problem Solving Process

1. State the problem. What is the deviation from the standard?
2. Specify the problem. Describe what the problem IS and IS NOT. The more specific you make your problem description, the closer you will be to finding the cause.
3. Find the differences between the IS and the IS NOT.
4. Brainstorm possible causes. What are some changes that could have caused this problem?
5. Test the most likely cause. Which of these possible causes is most likely to be the cause of this problem?
6. Validate the cause. What can we do to prove that the most likely cause is the real cause of the problem?
7. Develop the solution. What action(s) can we take to undo the change that caused this problem?

The Seven-Step Continuous Improvement Process

1. Select the condition to improve.
2. Define how to measure the condition. Before you can improve a condition, you must be able to measure it.
3. Set a target.
4. Gather facts to define the condition as it is now.
5. Generate improvement ideas.
6. Select, test, and adopt improvement ideas.
7. Establish, document, and discipline new procedures.

Problem solving and continuous improvement are very similar. In both cases, you are trying to understand how change affects results. In problem solving, you are trying to find the change that caused a negative deviation from the standard. In continuous improvement, you are trying to cause a positive deviation from the normal by introducing change. In either case, it is essential that these processes become standardized or “institutionalized.” When these processes are institutionalized,

• everyone on your team is taking the same approach to solving problems and improving processes;
• everyone is speaking the same language;
• anyone from your organization (even if they are not members of your team) can study the solutions or improvement steps you are planning and understand how you arrived at them; and,
• people feel empowered because they are using a method that has been sanctioned by the organization.

Most importantly, you will give your business a competitive advantage when the people in your organization genuinely recognize that problem solving and continuous improvement are simultaneously opportunities and obligations. The opportunity is the empowerment that comes from having a tool, recognized throughout your organization, for solving a problem or improving a process. The obligation is the requirement that the tools be used to improve the total quality of your organization.

If problem solving and continuous improvement could benefit your business, our research and strategic planning professionals can help you. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com, and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber). We’re ready to work for you in a way that will enhance the way your business operates today and in the future.

Why do you need market research data?

It all depends on who you are.

In our business travels, many people ask us why they would need market data, and who within their organization would use research data in a way that is effective and actionable. In a nutshell, any individual or organization that requires any data or knowledge about themselves or their market will use some form of secondary or primary market research.

Secondary Research

Secondary research is based on information gleaned from studies previously performed by government agencies, chambers of commerce, trade associations and other organizations. It also includes Internet and database searches for information that currently exists in the market and is available for free access or purchase.

Primary Research

Primary research is tailored to a company’s particular needs. By customizing tried-and-true approaches (telephone interviews, focus groups, Internet surveys, field tests, etc.), you can gain invaluable information about your customers and target market. Primary research delivers more specific results than secondary research, which is an especially important consideration. In addition, primary research is usually based on statistical methodologies that involve a sampling of your target market.

It is important to remember that secondary research lays the groundwork and primary research fills in the gaps. Organizations that use both types of market research acquire a well-rounded view of their market and have the information they need to make important business decisions.

How research is used depends on your function or area of focus. The following are just a few examples of how different functions use research. The data that is being gathered can be tailored to a functional need, or broad information can be gathered that will benefit all functions at the same time.

Marketing Management

Research focus: All tactical and strategic marketing, segmentation, brand and product positioning decisions, marketing planning, forecasting, etc.

General Management

Research focus: Corporate and strategic plans, acquisitions and divestments, capital purchases, investments, etc.

Sales Management

Research focus: Understanding purchasing trends, competitors, pricing, customer needs/expectations, tactical sales plans, etc.

Customer Service Management

Research focus: Understand customer satisfaction, areas of strength/weakness, areas for improvement, incidental customer issues, CSR performance, etc.

Quality Management

Research focus: ISO/QS requirements for customer feedback, quality standards, quality specifications and adherence, etc.

Technology Management

Research focus: Technology trends and forecasting, technical specifications and features, user preferences/behavior, technologies to integrate/acquire (or get out of), etc.

Tweed-Weber’s research makes it easy to get the information you need to make important, strategic decisions with clarity and confidence. You call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber). Whether your research project is large or small, you can be assured that Tweed-Weber has the resources, skills and experience to provide the information and results you need.