Four ways research can help win new business

When it comes to pitching new business, we know there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Each opportunity comes with its own sets of needs and goals, which will ultimately frame how you position your pitch. So how can you separate yourself from other agencies in order to win the business?

Do your research.

This might sound like a no-brainer. As you’re reading this, you’re probably saying to yourself, of course I do my research. But is it the kind of research that sets you apart? Research that goes beyond what you can find through simple (or even extensive) Google searches? Research that demonstrates your clear understanding of the client’s core consumers?

To achieve this level of research, you need to get your hands on some good market research that is customized to your needs. It may sound tedious and time-consuming, but trust me, it doesn’t have to be. The beauty of this approach is that no one else will come armed with the same data, because it’s your data.

But how can you acquire this knowledge in the first place? 

By no means are we suggesting shelling out tens of thousands of dollars on a huge study with a large market research firm. While those types of studies certainly have their benefits, it wouldn’t make very good financial sense to spend a ton of money on research for a new business pitch.

You can always run a survey for free on a DIY tool like Survey Monkey, but it might be tough to reach your clients’ target markets if you don’t have access to high quality respondents. You also run the risk of getting bad, unqualified and unvalidated data back if you don’t have the experience with both writing a high quality survey and the knowledge of how to clean the data. The good news is that there are market research firms, like Lab42, that are the best of both worlds: reaching a wide range of target markets affordably and quickly, while also providing research expertise.

More specifically, here are four reasons to incorporate your own research into new business pitches:

1) Demonstrate Your Understanding of Their Customers (Not Your Network)

Understanding the client’s customers is the first step in developing a successful PR strategy. Plus, by doing your own research on their customers, you can prove that you not only know who their customers are, but more importantly why they are choosing your potential client over their competitors. Heck, your understanding of why customers are choosing one brand over another could also be used to shape your entire pitch.  But to gain this insight, you need to ensure you really are speaking to their customers and not simply your network of friends, family and co-workers. You’ll win your client over by demonstrating your deep understanding of their customers and their beliefs. 

2) Prove You’re Willing to Go the Extra Mile

If you are going into an entirely new business pitch, you will probably be going toe-to-toe with other agencies who are also bringing their own, unique ideas to the table. By demonstrating to the prospective client that you are willing to go above and beyond not only coming up with brilliant ideas, but also immediately validating them, you are showing that you and your organization is ready and willing to go the extra mile for your client. 

3) Go Beyond Groupthink

You and your team just came up with incredible ideas to use in your pitch with your prospective client. You share these concepts with other individuals in your organization and get the same feedback - this is awesome! Why not take a step back from the ideas and run them by actual customers in order to get their thoughts? Not only can you use research to validate your initial ideas (which is always reassuring), but in the case that the ideas flop among the target market, you can also get additional qualitative data directly from these customers as to ‘why’ the idea isn’t as brilliant as once thought. 

4) Stay Ahead of the Curve

If you are already using market research for your pitch, how old is the data? Can your competitors obtain the same data? By doing your own unique market research for your new business pitch, you could obtain data that is not even publicly available at that moment. You could even base your research on an event that just happened a few days ago to really demonstrate to your prospective client that you have your finger on the pulse of their customers. 

We’ll be the first to admit there is no silver bullet for winning new business. But if you come prepared with unique, fresh insights that you can use to dazzle your prospective client, you’ll stand out in the crowd and greatly increase your chance of adding a new client to your roster.