Don't Enter 2009 Blindfolded
By Chuck Mancino
This year, 2009, could possibly be one of the most important times for the future of your business. This is set to be the year that separates the successful from "didn't-make-its." The decisions you make in the next 12 months have to be made with vision. We are in a new territory that none of us have experienced. The margin for error in our professional lives has just shrunk.
All Bad News?
No, not everything is total gloom. Even in the Great Depression, there was opportunity, and those who traversed wisely didn't find themselves in bread lines – figuratively and, perhaps, literally. There is hope, still.
What path gives you the best shot of flourishing instead of floundering? We must leave as little to chance as possible in these choppy waters. And that begins, and ends, with arming yourself with the most accurate, detailed and insightful information available. Now is not the time to do business and use services because you are comfortable with a company, product or people. Everything needs to be re-examined, from the ground up. The mentality of "We've always used this" or "done it this way" is over. When a business is existing on the edge of a knife, as is the case for most of us, the "status quo" is no longer acceptable. There is hardly a business or market that won't be required to make near-flawless decisions. And that can't be achieved unless you have the best information.
Research and re-learn the facts about your company, your product and their position in your markets. Juxtapose where you and your product or service reside in the marketplace compared to the competition. What unique advantage do you offer?
Unfortunately, many companies will enter 2009 like people driving to work blindfolded. They've driven the route many times before, so why bother looking? After all, how much can a freeway change? But now is not the time to make assumptions; double check the state and trends in the market. There is a lot going on out there, much of it volatile.
If your company hasn't conducted any market research in the last six months, you may be unaware of the challenges and opportunities that are coming your way.
Fresh Survey Data.
I just completed my own market research of the chiropractic profession. (I have done these types of questionnaires and data compilation for vendor's of their customers, but never to the Chiropractic profession, in general.) I conducted in-depth phone interviews and surveys with 40 U.S. doctors of chiropractic chosen at random. I didn't operate off any magazine's or association's list whatsoever. These DCs represented a wide cross section of practice styles, philosophies, college backgrounds, localities, market sizes (small, medium, large) and so forth.
What I found included a number of surprises. Let me give you some examples:
- Supplements, vitamins and nutritional products are the most popular ancillary product offered. Interestingly enough, out of the long list of vendors, two companies are the clear leaders. The third-place product is not who most people expect. They have done some wise moves to move past companies that have been in the market for far longer.
- In the area of topical creams and analgesics, tied for second place is a company that doesn't even sell directly to chiropractors. My guess is that this company doesn't even know their prominence in this market. Their competitors probably don't know either.
An important part of this research focused on why DCs choose the products they choose for their patients. Contrary to the beliefs of some, "quality" ranked third and "practice philosophy" ranked fifth.
Another component of the survey focused on what products doctors sought more information about. While the totality of the results will remain proprietary, I can tell you that the top six products and services cited are products that most would consider heavily advertised, if not overly-advertised. Clearly some of these demonstrate that advertising alone works very well at creating interest and brand awareness doctors need more information in order to make buying decisions. I believe this indicates a need for a deeper effort towards product education, with mediums such as white papers, studies, webinars, tele-conferences and the like. (Traditionally, one would include seminars as a top tool for education, but today's economic realities are making that option less likely to be successfully implemented. Not that seminars are completely antiquated, but live, face-to-face meetings will continue to be used less.)
The survey also delved into what products DCs will likely add to their practice, as well as what products they simply refuse to consider. It also inquired into the need for patient-education and the use of product support material. All of these provided great insight regarding what doctors feel they need to offer to their patients, in terms of the types of products and the support material.
The final questions asked involved Chiropractic publications: which ones they receive, which ones they read and which content they trust. With over 60,000 issues mailed every two weeks, it was not surprising that Dynamic Chiropractic was top in these categories. But there were some surprises.
For instance, the results indicated that the third-place publication had less than 19% of the readership of Dynamic Chiropractic. Every publication after that was less than 10%.
This study opened my eyes to information most of the profession doesn't have. It will give me advantages and insights I did not previously possess prior to this project and assist me in offering direction to my vendor clients.
It bears repeating that if you haven't conducted any market research in the last six months, you are entering one of the most important years in your future blindfolded. Take the time to find out the facts. It will make it much easier to make the right choices.
About the author
Chuck Mancino operates MMPR - a full-service marketing and PR group specializing in the CAM markets - offering brand campaigns, ad creation, production, writing feature articles, product releases, web design and production, direct mail and media relations. He can be reached at 904-280-5433, or at cmancino@gmail.com or visit www.gommpr.com.
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