9 Habits of Great Market Research Vendors

Dealing with vendors often makes me cranky, but it always reminds me of the things Versta Research should be doing when working with our own customers.

Over the years I have taken careful note of the things our best vendors do to capture my loyalty.  They have me turning to them again and again without putting every inquiry out for bid.

Likewise, I’ve taken careful note of the things our not-so-great vendors do that keep me ever vigilant in hopes of finding a better alternative soon.

So in our just-published fall newsletter on the Nine Habits of Great Market Research Vendors, Versta Research lays out a manifesto of what we expect from our vendors, and what we pledge to our own customers.  In brief, here are those 9 Habits:

1. They focus on earning trust and business with each new project
2. They don’t brag about what they can do—they just do it
3. They manage timelines to get things done
4. They offer their best people to work with
5. They add value in unexpected ways
6. They accept responsibility for mistakes and fix them
7. They focus on relationships rather than revenue
8. They do what is asked
9. They don’t care about job titles

We also share recent news coverage about Versta Research and our work, including:

A survey of Hispanic investors for Wells Fargo

A survey of urban teens about careers in the IT industry

A survey of prospective homebuyers for Discover Home Loans

A Chicago Tribune feature article about a college roommate matching algorithm we developed for a tech start-up client

A new Employee Experience Assessment Tool we built in partnership with Brilliant Ink

We hope you find some useful and thought-provoking ideas in this newsletter.  And as always, let us know if there is anything we can do for you.

By Joe Hopper, Ph.D.