Market Research Companies Toronto | Tenato Strategy Inc.

In-Depth Interviews are used to understand your customers (or stakeholders’) needs, your company’s strengths/weaknesses, and your competitive positioning. They can also be helpful in testing new ideas and pricing structures. Interviews are usually done by phone or web conferencing. If the interviewee is a customer of yours, we ask you to get their consent to participate ahead of time. 

NOTE: In-Depth Interviews are a type of Exploratory or Qualitative research (more like a discussion, not usually using numeric/rating scales) so usually are less precise for measurement purposes and use fewer respondents than surveys. However, themes are tabulated and typically give very strong strategic direction.

Surveys quantify preferences and patterns, such as weak spots or pockets of opportunities. They be done with existing customers or with larger groups of potential buyers to identify habits, opinions, buying patterns, needs and demographics. 

For example, a customer satisfaction survey across multiple company locations can compare satisfaction from location to location or from one year to the next. Asking questions across a large geographic or demographic sampling can identify which buyers are more likely interested, and where they are. Surveys can be executed by e-mail, online, in-person (intercept) surveys, with “comment cards” or even by mail.
 
NOTE: Since the purpose here is precise measurement, it is important to get random selection of a significant number of respondents wherever possible. If measuring over time, survey questions should be consistent each time they are asked. While some open-ended questions can be included, most Surveys are “measurable” – i.e. closed-ended questions such as “yes/no” or “on a scale of 1 – 5″ that can easily be tabulated.

Focus groups are used to test and refine new ideas, especially visual ones. Focus groups are a great way to get a reaction to something you need to “show and tell.” When people take an interest in what you’re showing, often new ideas come about to tweak and improve the offering, to make it stronger. Once you have shown them the idea, you can also ask what they might be willing to pay for it. 
 
It is crucial to have an experienced focus group moderator who writes the guide for the discussion (topics of discussion), and ensures a balanced, unbiased discussion. Tenato has resources for recruitment, qualified moderators and focus group facilities in Toronto.

Prospective Customer Research usually done by in-depth interviews, or by focus groups. If handled by in-depth interviews, they are usually done by phone, i.e. calling the prospect and interviewing them to see if your offering will appeal to them. This helps a business diversify, segment target markets, and understand the competitive landscape. It usually starts by identifying several types of prospective buyers, and then reaching out by phone to identify the correct level (buying decision maker) within that company. If the prospective buyers are consumers, this is often done with carefully selected focus groups.
 
Most companies will use prospective customer research to help determine how to diversify their offerings. But this technique can also be used to assess sales techniques and processes.

Competitor Research is a detailed apples-to-apples comparison that assesses your strengths, weaknesses, marketing and capabilities versus competitors.  Uncovering competitor data is done through online, phone, and in-person means (especially if the competitor is a retail business). If competitors are selling products that compete with yours, you may also wish to actually purchase products/services from competitors to assess the quality, service, packaging and sales team.

Feasibility studies help to determine if your new product or concept will succeed. A feasibility study is made up of several kinds of research, which then concludes with a recommendation about your new business: a go, a no-go, or go with modifications. Please visit our Feasibility Study page for more information.

Industry or Market Assessments determine market size and/or market share.  This is usually done by mainly “Secondary Research”, i.e. rounding up the latest existing studies and data on the size, growth, key players, legislation and trends in the market. Tenato also uses ground-breaking big-data and social media monitoring for finding leading-edge trends, as well as local resources such as Toronto Community Profiles provided by the City, Toronto Economic Development and Ontario Government Economic reports. In some cases, we also contact industry leaders (such as those at the Toronto Real Estate Board) to give us first-hand and current comments on what is happening. 

Omnibus or Panel Surveys are useful when you only have a couple of questions to answer, but need a highly accurate measurement of market size/demographics. An omnibus or panel survey allows you to add your questions to a publicly-fielded survey, usually up to about 2 – 3 questions. In fact, there are online survey panels being fielded every week and questions are being responded to by panellists across the country. 

These charge by the question and number of respondents. Costs go up if you need a more specific audience, such as 500 women homeowners under the age of forty. If you have more than a couple of questions it will likely be worth it to do a “dedicated survey” – i.e. a survey written just for your purposes. At Tenato, we’ll work with you to determine the questions needed, get the responses, analyze the data, and make recommendations.