Any tips on how to effectively sell market research services to clients?

Question

I work for a full service market research firm in Upstate New York. We do work in the healthcare, education, banking/finance, and manufacturing industries primarily. What are some effective strategies and tips to bring in more clients? (popular services for industries, what decision makers are looking for, etc.)

Answer 1

You need to help your prospective clients understand why it's important to do market research (what's in it for them) and then why your firm is the right one to use (what's unique about your firm).

You might want to focus on a sample problem in the targeted industry and talk about how research can better help the prospect understand how to solve the problem - make sure they understand you're not the problem solver but that your research will help them better understand how to solve the problem.  

Use that sample in promotional materials - brochures, one-to-one letters, press releases, etc.

You also might want to attend target industry events:  contact the executive director for your prospective client's industry association and volunteer to talk about the benefits of market research at an event.  Make sure your speaker is good - and use that speaker to talk to other target industry events.  Have business cards and brochures at the industry events to give out to attendees.  Doing this gets you in front of a lot of prospective clients at one time.

Good luck.