Trench Workers Have Great Opinions Too! Listen To Your Front Line Workers

Trench Workers: The employees who work the front lines. In retail it would be the cashier or store manager, at a bank it's the teller, and in market research it's the survey interviewer calling from a database or the manager fielding a project for a client of theirs.

Trench workers are important to listen to because they have a unique perspective: They see both the customers and company's point of view at the same time. Their opinions stem from their work environment to the current projects they are working on. Failure to listen to the employees often result in unhappy workers who will try to find other jobs and the company will have missed opportunities to provide better or more efficient products/services. Managing employee opinions is not just an HR thing!!! In the B2B world clients who listen each other and communicate on a regular basis are often more satisfied with their relationship and will not shop for a new vendor/partner to work with. Many people worry about collecting biased opinions when listening to trench workers but as long as you know how to filter these out you will be pleasantly surprised to uncover valuable feedback that can make your company even more profitable.

At The Market Research Event in San Diego, CA, the vice president of customer relations at Best Buy spoke about empowering their front-line employees by offering a channel to get their voices heard. They set up a system that allowed them to track what customers are saying on the sales floor and gave the employee an opportunity to share it with upper management by simply logging into the computer/register. As a result Best Buy made changes to their warranty agreements, offered more customer-driven products and services, and employees feel more empowered to share their thoughts and are happier with their work environment.

Now I'm not suggesting for you to add a bitch button to the cash register like Best Buy but it would good to implement a system that can quantify employee experiences into actionable data. What their company did will not work for everyone, however establishing an open-line of communication is important to receive feedback and empower your employees to care about their job more. As the researcher it's our job to collect all types of feedback and the items using open-ended text analysis tools, crowdsourcing tools, and reveal actionable results. As a socially conscious marketer we are showing respect to all levels of employees and giving them an opportunity to make a positive impact to their work environment. Go ahead and empower your employees. This is a win-win situation for all.

The Art of Listening: The Skill Every Market Researcher Must Continually Work On

Listening - a simple action word that's really hard to do. I've been thinking a lot about this word and how I can improve my listening skills in every aspect of my life. If you are married like me sometimes it's hard to listen to your spouse. I see my husband's mouth moving but nothing is registering. My selective hearing skills are very impressive...which is not a good thing.

Not only is listening really important in maintaining good relationships with your friends and family but as a market researcher we need to continually challenge and hone our listening skills. By trade market researchers should be the best listeners in the world. Even better than therapist I dare say. Why? Because there are a lot of money at stake.

To get started on becoming a better listener I've put together 4 main questions you should ask while listening to your customers/respondents:

1) Is anything distracting me from giving my full attention to listening to my customers?

The world of cell phones, internet, email, etc. has detrimentally affected our ability to give full attention to specific tasks at hand. There is nothing wrong with being a multi-tasker, however, in the event of listening to respondent/customers it's important to pay special attention to what they are saying. Put your phone on silent, don't review or reply to emails when they are giving you their opinion or reviewing their survey answers. One small distraction may end up costing your company revenue down the road.

2) Am I being completely unbiased and open to what people are saying to me?

It's human nature to act a certain way based on our past experiences. Life experiences shape who we are and our opinions. As a market researcher, especially in the consulting world, it's important to stay as neutral and unbiased as possible. I remember many times I had to remind myself to check my personal opinions at the door. Easier said than done of course.
While gathering data it is also important that the tools and methods to collect data are not biased either. Have coworkers review your survey to identify any loaded questions and don't be afraid to question whether the clients you are working with are skewed with their own agenda.

3) Am I tapping into all possible channels to listen?

I don't want to call anyone out but I've known companies who use selective hearing when it comes to listening to their customers. Some of them only want to hear the good and not the ugly.
Ignorance is not bliss in this case. Sorry, but every company must be able to hear the good and the bad or risk having it come back and bite you in the ass. Have you Googled your company? Have you checked your comments on Facebook or Twitter? Is anyone talking trash and if so who is it? Although you are not in the business of moderating a bitch-fest it's important to take what they say into consideration and be able to prioritize which opinions require an actionable response.

4) Do I really understand what people are saying to me?

As a researcher I recall myself reviewing data and instantly categorizing the responses into specific data segments. It's hard to remember that I'm not just presenting data- I'm presenting real people and real customers who want to give their opinion. We spend a lot of time putting together an outline for a project, a statement of purpose within a specific budget and deadline to meet. Spend ample time understanding the voice of your customers from different angles. I even challenge you to throw out your research outline (just as an exercise during your project) and just talk to them. Isn't it amazing what you hear when you don't have a preconceived agenda?

Should We Blame Marketing for Bad Romances?

OK let's set aside all of the daddy and mommy issues for now and dive right into my title question, "Should we blame marketing for bad romances?"

Everybody knows that 50% of all marriages end in divorce. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center last month found that of the 2,691 Americans surveyed, 39 percent thought marriage is becoming obsolete, up from 28 percent when Time magazine asked the same question in 1978. Many say a lot of these attitude changes are a result of cultural changes in our society but as a socially conscious marketer I have to wonder if we can prove that past marketing efforts made by companies have affected people's opinions on romance and relationship expectations. The bigger question would be how badly has it effected people's opinions on romance and relationships?

The other day at the gym I caught an episode of "Millionaire Matchmaker." A millionairess who's made her fortune being on the cover of romance novels (female Fabio) came to the Patti Stanger, the millionaire matchmaker, to help her find her "prince charming." She was an attractive and very fit women in her 40s with just a bit too much botox on her forehead. As she spoke more and more I thought she sounded quite delusional as though he was reenacting a scene from a Disney movie. She thought she had her fairytale wedding but got divorced and she's now a lost princess in search for her handsome prince. Though I do not have a degree in psychology clearly this women needs some serious therapy before putting herself back on the market. The show ended with her finding a younger man who owned a security company who took her on a fairytale date in Central Park. Throughout the entire show Patti the matchmaker kept saying, "Romance is still alive, chivalry is not dead!" Good marketing for her services right? Sure, but the other message is to hold on to your princessy dreams waiting for that perfect man. Same goes for all the other romance shows like The Bachelor/Bachelorette, Blind Date, Rock of Love, and more. Sorry but nobody's perfect and all this expectation is going to lead to serious disappointment down the road.

Let's look at another factor that contributes to the bad romance epidemic: The "Bad Boy" effect. You know who they are! The ones who asked you to skip classes and hang out at the movies, the ones who act a bit mysterious and distant. Yeah, I'm also talking about that guy at the bar who promised to call you and take you out on a nice date but only calls you after 10:00 PM asking if you want to hang out. I don't think women were completely drawn to assholes until it was sensationalized in movies, music, and other media outlets. Women in their early 20s are encouraged to have fun with Mr. Right Now only to find their hearts falling in love with the unemotionally available asshole. I've seen way too many of my girlfriends stay with Mr. Right Now even though they candidly admit the man is not good for them. Even I have personally experienced this in the the past as well. Should we blame the girl completely or can we say she is a product of her environment and that includes a daily attack of advertisements that portray an ideal lifestyle?

Obviously there are many other factors to consider when looking at the bad romance conundrum. Careers, families, finances, personal experiences, etc. all have a role in picking out the type of mate you want right now or the rest of your life but I believe the influence and effects of marketing in this sector of life has been severely under-rated far too long. In the end those who search for the ideal mate portrayed in marketing campaigns will be left broken hearted and alone...just like Jillian and Ed from The Bachelorette (picture above).