by Bill Cherry
What is a focus group?
A focus group is a method to learn what potential customers think about a product, service, or idea. This research method has been used for decades by many of the largest corporations. A focus group consists of a small group of people that get together in a room and talk about products, services, or ideas. The researcher listens and watches the group’s responses to gain insight into customer’s attitudes about the product or service.
Many companies that develop new products or services want to know what customer’s needs are so they can solve those needs with their product. Not testing a new product before a roll out can be disastrous. If the research is not done, then the actual roll out is the test and that often is a poor result.
The test for a new product is “Does it fill a need or solve a problem?” Sometimes researchers come up with a brand new product that has never existed and has no purpose. The candy Pop Rocks is an example. Food researchers were looking for a tablet that would convert water into a carbonated drink. They discovered that when they put the tablet sized nugget into their mouths it would pop and produce a nice flavor. The company did not do anything with it for 20 years until an employee saw its potential as a candy.
Focus groups can provide information such as the price customers are likely to pay, colors preferred, materials and design styles, features customers want and more. Of course focus group information is not a scientific method and you must be careful in analyzing the results. Most scientific surveys need around 1200 people in a sample to get a valid result. Focus groups only have five to ten participants which are not statistically valid but its purpose is not for the same kind of data collection.
An example is a lady whom I coached two years ago. I will call her Sandy. She was a musician and had a band as her profession. I found that she and her sister developed a special, new kind of women’s purse and she wanted to market it. Sandy had a local seamstress create a prototype of the purse to show her friends.
I told her to get some better prototypes made and hold a focus group. She found a Chinese broker to have four samples made and shipped back to her. The samples looked very good. It was then time for a focus group.
She arranged to have nine women in her target customer’s demographic meet at a friend’s house. They had lite refreshments and chatted a few minutes. Then the interesting part began. Sandy brought out the four samples purses and passed them around and watched and listened to their comments. Then she started asking questions about what would they pay for the purse, which colors are preferred, and more.
As she listened to their comments she learned suggestions on different fabrics, materials, hardware, etc. Many of the suggestions were very good ideas and helped to improved the product. As a result of the focus group, she was better able to satisfy her customer’s needs.
To create a focus group you need a product, or an issue you want to learn about. Make a list of the information you want to know. They could be things like the right prices, sizes, materials, design, colors and fabrics. You want to learn what customers want in the product, and what will cause them to buy.
A good size for a focus group is five to ten people. I prefer to invite ten so if some don’t show up I still have enough to hold the focus group. They should be examples of your target demographic; age, sex, race, income, geographic location, etc.
1. Prepare your questions and attitudes you want to learn.
2. Get a recording devise to record the session.
3. Arrange a comfortable location to hold the meeting where you will not be disturbed.
4. Contact the participants and get commitments that they will show up. Tell them they will receive $10 at the end of the hour to motivate their keeping the appointment.
5. At the beginning of the focus group introduce everyone. Lead them in some chatter to warm them up. Explain what they will be doing and emphasize that they be completely frank in their opinions. Feel free to say anything.
6. Present the products to be evaluated and pass them around.
7. Listen and record their comments.
8. Ask the questions you have prepared and record the responses.
When the group is over, thank them, pay them their $10 and let them go. Analyze the information but be careful, it is only from ten people so keep that in mind. Focus groups are an easy and affordable way to gain some basic information that can be valuable in a business.
No comments yet.