netrashetty
Netra Shetty
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (formerly Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages) is an American soft drink company, based in Plano, Texas.
It was spun off from Britain's Cadbury Schweppes, on May 5, 2008, with trading in its shares starting on May 7, 2008. Cadbury Schweppes plc became Cadbury plc on May 5, 2008
xample:
“Without knowing the market’s preference for the _____ feature, we could be at risk of losing a __ % share among the _____ market segment. This could translate in a drop in new sales projections of $ ___.”
Or, make the statement more positive:
“By knowing the market’s preference for the _____ feature, we could minimally gain a __ % in market share among the _____ market segment which could translate to a $ ___ increase in the forecasted sales projections.”
Many times, seeing the impact of doing research translated to numbers can have the power to sway a wary client.
Situation #3: The research is necessary but you want to propose a different methodology which you know your client opposes.
Here’s where it gets sticky. We’ve seen this scenario played out many times especially when it comes to telephone interviews, online research or new, infrequently-tried methodologies. The internal client may have a bias against these types of research for all sorts of reasons. They only trust what they can see — observing a focus group vs. trusting a telephone interviewer. Online studies are too new, not proven, something they don’t have confidence in, etc.
Suggestions:
Understand the history behind your client’s opposition to the methodology you have in mind. If he’s been burned by unscrupulous telephone interviewers or has used online survey results that were found to be tainted, you need to be aware.
Next, create and share a list of the pros and cons behind both the methodology he’s requesting and the approach you believe is best for the request. (Note: We recommend you have this list available for all types of methods and update it frequently. Add testimonials from others in the company who have also successfully used these methods.)
If the client still balks at your method vs. his, suggest a mini-study using both types of methods to test the approaches. Yes, you may have to invest some additional funds up front. But this may pay off when you can demonstrate why the ultimate results of the methodology will be of higher value.
Situation #4: You have an internal client who does not have confidence in the marketing research department and has independently jobbed out a research project.
Wow, this is frustrating! You know your research department team — they are experienced professionals with only the best interests of your company in mind. But maybe a few balls were dropped on projects in the past, or a research result was unduly questioned by management. Now you have someone going around you and it’s quite unnerving for you and your staff.
Suggestions:
If you’re in a situation where you need to rebuild credibility and don’t have total management support, meet the difficult client where she is at. Meaning, admit to the problems your department has had and ask the client for an opportunity to partner with her on this study.
By partnering we mean acting as a consultant of sorts to your client. She has hired a resource — it’s a commitment that can’t be undone. So work with what you have. Suggest ways that you can act as an objective, third party to the research project to offer assistance and guidance.
Be visible with this client. Request to be part of any pre-testing efforts. Suggest that the client forward you copies of interview or discussion guides so you can keep current on the study’s progress. Ask if you can sit in on the focus group to observe.
Resist the urge to be critical. Tell the client what’s going right. Only offer suggestions for change when it is crucial to the outcome of the study. Credibility is rebuilt slowly. If your client can see you as adding value to the project, she may be more likely to not go around you next time.
Situation #5: The client is micro-managing both the research project and the research suppliers’ personnel.
This behavior may be observed with management new to their jobs or new to a particular project or those who have a high need to be in control. They can become nitpicky about every research objective, they re-write interview/discussion guides, they question the order and number of survey questions, they are a constant source of irritation for you, your supplier and the people directly working on the study.
Suggestions:
This situation is actually one of the easier situations to solve!
Whatever you do, hold back on barging into the client’s office to demand that he stop calling the research supplier 17 times a day! That will only make the situation worse.
Instead, sit down with the client and share your perceptions that he seems overly concerned with the study. Ask to go over the project’s objectives again. Ask the client to give you a rundown of where he is disappointed in the project or in people’s actions. Acknowledge his concerns and suggest a new way to handle the project. Suggest a weekly meeting, either on the phone or in person with both the supplier and any other key players on the project. Gain agreement that this would be an effective way to improve the communication with the supplier and your department. Ask the client to develop a list of what’s going right, what’s going wrong, and any concerns he has. In that weekly meeting — limited to one hour and no more — go over all his issues and come to some sort of closure on how to handle each problem.
cycle concept is an appropriate description of what happens to products and industries over time. When applied to organizations, the product life cycle and industry life cycle contain the four stages of introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
This concept is much more than an interesting analogy of business and biology. In biology, a living organism's position in its life cycle leads to different courses of action concerning the organism's future. An industry's position and a product's position in their life cycles also lead to very different decisions concerning their futures. Consequently, the life-cycle concept was adopted from biology for use as a strategic planning tool for products and industries.
The following sections define the terms, explain why products have a life cycle, describe the stages of the product life cycle, and examine the strategic implications of the product life cycle.
DEFINITIONS
The life cycle can be used to observe the behavior of many concepts in business. In its classic form, which is described in a later section, it is best applied to products and industries. Used in this form, a product is not individual but a group of similar products. For example, the Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Taurus, and Honda Accord are a product group of mid-sized sedans.
Industry is a much broader classification than product; an industry consists of many similar groups of products. The product groups of mid-size sedan, pickup truck, and sport-utility vehicle all belong to the automobile industry.
Generally, industries have longer life cycles than products. The automobile industry has lasted more than 100 years and shows no signs of declining. However, the large family-sedan appears to be well into the decline stage. After decades of dominance in the automobile industry, only a few large cars, such as Ford's Crown Victoria, are being manufactured.
The life-cycle concept also describes individual brand products, such as the Ford Taurus. However, individual products in a group of products usually have much shorter life cycles, and they do not always follow the classic shape of the product life cycle. They may be introduced and die, and then be reintroduced again at a latter point. For example, the Chevrolet Nova has had more than one life cycle. Consequently, products are defined as groups of similar products, and industries defined as a collection of comparable product groups.
The discussion that follows is applicable to both industries and products. The terms product life cycle and industry life cycle both refer to the four stages of introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. To simplify the discussion, both the product life cycle and industry life cycle will be combined and simply called the product life cycle.
It was spun off from Britain's Cadbury Schweppes, on May 5, 2008, with trading in its shares starting on May 7, 2008. Cadbury Schweppes plc became Cadbury plc on May 5, 2008
xample:
“Without knowing the market’s preference for the _____ feature, we could be at risk of losing a __ % share among the _____ market segment. This could translate in a drop in new sales projections of $ ___.”
Or, make the statement more positive:
“By knowing the market’s preference for the _____ feature, we could minimally gain a __ % in market share among the _____ market segment which could translate to a $ ___ increase in the forecasted sales projections.”
Many times, seeing the impact of doing research translated to numbers can have the power to sway a wary client.
Situation #3: The research is necessary but you want to propose a different methodology which you know your client opposes.
Here’s where it gets sticky. We’ve seen this scenario played out many times especially when it comes to telephone interviews, online research or new, infrequently-tried methodologies. The internal client may have a bias against these types of research for all sorts of reasons. They only trust what they can see — observing a focus group vs. trusting a telephone interviewer. Online studies are too new, not proven, something they don’t have confidence in, etc.
Suggestions:
Understand the history behind your client’s opposition to the methodology you have in mind. If he’s been burned by unscrupulous telephone interviewers or has used online survey results that were found to be tainted, you need to be aware.
Next, create and share a list of the pros and cons behind both the methodology he’s requesting and the approach you believe is best for the request. (Note: We recommend you have this list available for all types of methods and update it frequently. Add testimonials from others in the company who have also successfully used these methods.)
If the client still balks at your method vs. his, suggest a mini-study using both types of methods to test the approaches. Yes, you may have to invest some additional funds up front. But this may pay off when you can demonstrate why the ultimate results of the methodology will be of higher value.
Situation #4: You have an internal client who does not have confidence in the marketing research department and has independently jobbed out a research project.
Wow, this is frustrating! You know your research department team — they are experienced professionals with only the best interests of your company in mind. But maybe a few balls were dropped on projects in the past, or a research result was unduly questioned by management. Now you have someone going around you and it’s quite unnerving for you and your staff.
Suggestions:
If you’re in a situation where you need to rebuild credibility and don’t have total management support, meet the difficult client where she is at. Meaning, admit to the problems your department has had and ask the client for an opportunity to partner with her on this study.
By partnering we mean acting as a consultant of sorts to your client. She has hired a resource — it’s a commitment that can’t be undone. So work with what you have. Suggest ways that you can act as an objective, third party to the research project to offer assistance and guidance.
Be visible with this client. Request to be part of any pre-testing efforts. Suggest that the client forward you copies of interview or discussion guides so you can keep current on the study’s progress. Ask if you can sit in on the focus group to observe.
Resist the urge to be critical. Tell the client what’s going right. Only offer suggestions for change when it is crucial to the outcome of the study. Credibility is rebuilt slowly. If your client can see you as adding value to the project, she may be more likely to not go around you next time.
Situation #5: The client is micro-managing both the research project and the research suppliers’ personnel.
This behavior may be observed with management new to their jobs or new to a particular project or those who have a high need to be in control. They can become nitpicky about every research objective, they re-write interview/discussion guides, they question the order and number of survey questions, they are a constant source of irritation for you, your supplier and the people directly working on the study.
Suggestions:
This situation is actually one of the easier situations to solve!
Whatever you do, hold back on barging into the client’s office to demand that he stop calling the research supplier 17 times a day! That will only make the situation worse.
Instead, sit down with the client and share your perceptions that he seems overly concerned with the study. Ask to go over the project’s objectives again. Ask the client to give you a rundown of where he is disappointed in the project or in people’s actions. Acknowledge his concerns and suggest a new way to handle the project. Suggest a weekly meeting, either on the phone or in person with both the supplier and any other key players on the project. Gain agreement that this would be an effective way to improve the communication with the supplier and your department. Ask the client to develop a list of what’s going right, what’s going wrong, and any concerns he has. In that weekly meeting — limited to one hour and no more — go over all his issues and come to some sort of closure on how to handle each problem.
cycle concept is an appropriate description of what happens to products and industries over time. When applied to organizations, the product life cycle and industry life cycle contain the four stages of introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
This concept is much more than an interesting analogy of business and biology. In biology, a living organism's position in its life cycle leads to different courses of action concerning the organism's future. An industry's position and a product's position in their life cycles also lead to very different decisions concerning their futures. Consequently, the life-cycle concept was adopted from biology for use as a strategic planning tool for products and industries.
The following sections define the terms, explain why products have a life cycle, describe the stages of the product life cycle, and examine the strategic implications of the product life cycle.
DEFINITIONS
The life cycle can be used to observe the behavior of many concepts in business. In its classic form, which is described in a later section, it is best applied to products and industries. Used in this form, a product is not individual but a group of similar products. For example, the Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Taurus, and Honda Accord are a product group of mid-sized sedans.
Industry is a much broader classification than product; an industry consists of many similar groups of products. The product groups of mid-size sedan, pickup truck, and sport-utility vehicle all belong to the automobile industry.
Generally, industries have longer life cycles than products. The automobile industry has lasted more than 100 years and shows no signs of declining. However, the large family-sedan appears to be well into the decline stage. After decades of dominance in the automobile industry, only a few large cars, such as Ford's Crown Victoria, are being manufactured.
The life-cycle concept also describes individual brand products, such as the Ford Taurus. However, individual products in a group of products usually have much shorter life cycles, and they do not always follow the classic shape of the product life cycle. They may be introduced and die, and then be reintroduced again at a latter point. For example, the Chevrolet Nova has had more than one life cycle. Consequently, products are defined as groups of similar products, and industries defined as a collection of comparable product groups.
The discussion that follows is applicable to both industries and products. The terms product life cycle and industry life cycle both refer to the four stages of introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. To simplify the discussion, both the product life cycle and industry life cycle will be combined and simply called the product life cycle.
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