Need to Purchase Market Research? Look For These 3 Things

If you’re searching for market research to purchase for your business, university or commercialization outfit, we want you to know two things:

You are to be commended for knowing (and probably convincing your management team) that while useful in many ways, Google is an unreliable and unsustainable source of market research for organizations that need to make serious decisions, assist students and more.

Choosing the right market research for your needs is challenging. Depending on where you are in your search, you may have discovered that when it comes to market research companies, you have many options. Our tips in today’s blog will help you make the best choice.

When vetting market research companies for your business or organization, we recommend evaluating the following three criteria:

1. Markets covered. This may seem obvious. Of course, a primary deciding factor in your search for the right market research company is whether the company offers analysis of your desired markets. But what about markets that are tangentially related and can offer invaluable insight?

For example, if you want insight into the global probiotics market, research on the global market for food safety testing can give you insight into any nuances affecting the probiotics market.

Additionally, check if the company offers reports from previous years, not just the current year. Comparative data can help you track insights found in reports from earlier years to see if and how they’ve changed.

To toot our own horn, at BCC Research, we recently expanded our market research library by 50% by partnering with fellow market research providers TBRC, Barnes and Datassential. Now, along with our biotech, IT, healthcare and related market areas, we also offer reports about more consumer-related areas, such as commerce, retail, food serve and more!

2. Licensing Policy. Ask your candidates whether they offer single-user licenses, global-user licenses or an alternative if neither of those options quite fit your needs. We could write an entire blog about licenses (and we will!), but here’s a brief explanation.

Single-user licenses are exactly that—a license for a single person—usually the purchaser—to use a company’s market research library, and typically, to access only one report. The upside? It’s the cheapest option and perfect for small companies and startups. The downside? It’s restricting, as no one else can access the library and even the purchaser might only have access to the desired report, depending on the company’s rules. Be sure to ask your market research companies for details about restrictions on their single-user licenses.

Global-user licenses allow large groups of people—an entire company or university, for example—to access a market research library. The upside? Users can log into the library themselves to access the reports they need at any time. The downside? It’s several times more expensive than single-user licenses.

At BCC Research, our team can help you get clear on your exact market research needs and which type of license suits you best—whether it’s single-use, global-use or something else.

3. Support. What if you need to access a specific figure in a hurry and don’t know where to look? What if you’re not even sure what type of report you need? What if you’re busy with other tasks, but your students need help with their research?

Your market research company should have the capacity to accommodate all of these requests when you become a customer. They should be your partner in helping you make better business decisions and serving the needs of your colleagues or students.

If a company takes a “hands-off” approach to their customers, look elsewhere. Look for a company who will partner with you to meet your goals, not a content mill that just produces as many reports as possible and doesn’t strive to make it easier for you to do your job.

At BCC Research, we have a dedicated Member Services team—available by phone, email and chat—who can help you find the exact research or data point you need, handle request from students and put you in contact with report authors if needed.

Our team is passionate about making your job easier.

Want to try BCC Research for yourself?