A- We are organized so that every project has an account team; not unlike an advertising agency structure. Each team is headed by a principal or account executive and involves a field project director and a data project director. Many of our large accounts are assigned to a permanent team, and walk-up traffic is assigned on the basis of practicality-on team familiarity with the type of account or on team availability, de pending upon the scope of the research to be conducted.
The account executive handles the acquisition of and ultimate control over the research to be conducted. The field project director is responsible for the questionnaire construction, seeing to the processing of the sample, making sure internal communications are maintained, and that all necessary supportive departments and other personnel involved are coordinated. Once the information is collected, it is the data director's responsibility to construct the necessary tabulating format and process the data according to specifications provided by the client. A written analysis is prepared by one of our data analysts and the account executive. The data analysts are in a separate group or department.
We have ten client service offices across the United States, each of which handles a certain geographic territory. Each client service office is headed by a manager at a vice-president level, and the manager may supervise from one to five account executives or senior account executives. There are usually no assistants, unless we have a new person who would come in to client service, and then I would help them learn the ropes.
This entails making sure that the overall schedule corresponds with the coding and data-processing schedules, and that there is time for report writing if necessary. I have interaction with the job supervisors, the editors, and the coders before we actually do the final coding for the questionnaire. The coding manual comes to me for approval; I then submit codes to my client for their review, and then back to the coding department with any necessary revisions or changes.
I work with the client in setting up the tabulation specifications: How they want to cross-tabulate the data, what kinds of statistical tests they want to perform, and in what format they want their data. Then I communicate this to the programmers. If there is a report required or a presentation required, I am the one who writes the report and makes the presentation when necessary.
When a client calls, I handle the call and try to find out what the needs are and if there are any marketing or research problems. I then go on from there. I usually set up a meeting in person after that phone conversation to further discuss what needs to be done. I try to get an idea of what the client's budget might be; what types of information items are necessary; and whether it is a national, local, or regional study. I also need to find out when they need the information.
After that meeting, I come back and write a research proposal, which is from two to ten or fifteen pages, but generally only four or five. The proposal outlines the background; the need for research; the specific research objective, which is one of the most important things; and descriptions of the design, methodology, and sample size that I recommend-practically everything that would be involved in the research process right down to the letter. I also state in the proposal what kind of reporting I expect and whether I will provide an analysis or not. Included are guidelines on timing (how many weeks for each stage of research) and a cost estimate within 10 percent. Then I send this proposal to the client.
In most cases we are bidding against from two to five other suppliers, so this proposal has to convince the prospective client that our bid should be accepted. Hopefully the client contacts us and tells us we were selected. We may have to resubmit our proposal with some changes, but in general the choice is made on the basis of the first proposal. We usually write about three proposals for every job we get.
If we're selected, I get together with project services and outline what needs to be done. Once the study is underway, I communicate with the client regularly. If there are problems with timing or cost, I become more involved in the study, especially once the analysis has been started. If a presentation is necessary, I am usually the one who is responsible for that. At any one time I could be working on between five and fifteen accounts, and each account may have three, four, or five studies, so there can be a lot going on at once.
We hire a lot of people right out of an M.B.A. program, because it is easier to teach them our way of doing things, which we consider the best way, and we don't have to change somebody who, for the last two or three years, has been doing it another way. On the other hand, there is something to be said for on-the-job experience, particularly if it is a job in marketing.
Don't limit yourself to business courses. If I am hiring a project director, I'm looking for someone who can think, not someone who can recite the four p's of marketing ... I know them too.
Q - Do you have any advice to offer someone interested in a career in marketing research?
A - Get as much exposure to the marketing research business and what the business is really about before making a decision. Interview with many companies that are in the business and try to make as much effort as possible to understand the advantages and limitations of the field, and the nature of the industry as a whole. Make your choice wisely.
Get a summer job coding, interviewing, or whatever to find out if you really have an interest in marketing research.
