 Our objective is providing a state of the art market research service based upon a need for advanced analysis in the marketplace. Our specialized abilities in statistical and multivariate analysis yield results that are interpreted into program application alternatives. Providing this knowledge in an easy to understand, non-technical format that yields maximum understanding and program development application is a key feature of Mangen Research Associates research activities.
Please take some time and look around our site. Our major products are listed to the left, just click on an item and it will expand. If you get lost, you can always click on the MRA logo to return here.
FREE CUSTOMER-ALIGNMENT SELF-SURVEY
Dick Lee, Principal of High-Yield Methods, and David Mangen, Ph.D, President of Mangen Research Associates, collaborated in survey design. Between them, the authors have over 50 years’ experience helping companies better align with customers. Their combined experience recognizing and overcoming structural and cultural obstacles to customer alignment provides the basis for this assessment.
Click here to go directly to the survey.
Why take this free survey?
Companies improving their alignment with customers have to step carefully to avoid creating serious infrastructure, change management and/or migration path issues. Knowing where you stand now will help you determine where to step next. Taking this survey will give you:
- Immediate insights into your readiness for customer alignment: Answering the 45, thought-provoking multiple choice questions will provide you with an instant self-read on your readiness to better align with customers.
- Immediate comparative context: You’ll receive your score as soon as you complete the survey. Then, one click more will bring you to an interpretive section that will help you understand the implications of your score.
- Feedback regarding your likelihood of success: The interpretive section will also assess the difficulty factor you face when moving towards customer-alignment and suggest a tack to take.
Who should take it?
We’ve designed this survey primarily for managers and executives of:
- Business-to-business companies.
- Financial services companies.
- High-ticket consumer purchase companies.
Consultants may also take the survey to assess client readiness; when doing so they should answer the questions from the perspective of their client company.
How much time will it take?
Completing the survey should require 12 – 15 minutes. However, there’s no time limit, and you may want to spend a bit more time considering the implications of your answers and taking notes.
Will my input be confidential?
Absolutely. We don’t ask for company name or e-mail addresses and all survey-taker IP addresses are suppressed.
What makes this survey different from others?
- The feedback is actionable. The survey will help you determine how well your internal infrastructure will support and sustain customer-alignment initiatives—and what you’ll likely need to change. Taking the survey will trigger a hard, objective look in the mirror, not a high-level review of customer relationships or “CRM readiness” (i.e., are you ready to buy software?).
- We have no hidden agenda. Our goal in customer-alignment is “creating new value to customers in ways that add value back to the company.” We’re offering valuable insights into your company in exchange for data (not related to individual companies) that will help us develop and publish customer-alignment benchmarks.
One caution:
As a professional working in this field, you’ll likely know what some of the responses “should be” to indicate that your company is well on its way to becoming customer-aligned. However, not answering objectively will significantly detract from the survey’s value to you and potentially become self-deceiving. Please let us paint you an accurate picture of where you are by objectively describing your organization. Your responses are private unless you explicitly request further analysis from us.
Please proceed to the survey, and thank you.
To proceed to the survey please click below. Once you’re finished, you’ll click a second link to link to access survey score interpretation.
Click here to go to the survey.
Customers Say What Companies Don't Want to Hear
A landmark new study of customer expectations of companies and the gap between customer expectations and company performance
By Dick Lee and David J. Mangen, Ph.D.
Available for purchase here.
Which do you believe is a more important factor in customer buying decisions, companies providing employees with a 360o view of customer relationships plus sharing data across division lines--or companies empowering their employees? Or brand strength versus communicating respectfully to customers? Or cross-selling versus not selling customers the wrong products? Or providing online customer service versus seeking customer input?
[To cite one telling customer answer, empowered seller employees are a markedly stronger purchase factor than sellers having a 360o view of them and sharing their relationship data across departmental lines]
The answers provided by customers to these and many other questions regarding what motivates customer purchase are intriguing and often surprising--and they provide a comprehensive view of customer buying preferences, both market-wide as well as in twelve major industry sectors. This new study--conducted by acclaimed customer researcher David Mangen, of Mangen Research Associates and CRM consultant and CRMGuru panelist Dick Lee of High-Yield Methods--explores the customer ethos and provides startling new views into what customers are thinking and how customers are changing.
Here is how Paul Greenberg, author of the CRM industry's best-selling book, "CRM at the Speed of Light," describes the study:
"I've read this, I've pondered it, I've gone through it in detail and I've come to this conclusion. I love it. Lee and Mangen have actually produced a report that's worth the money it costs. The data that they provide and their conclusions are what businesses with half a brain (or more) should be reading. I live in the world of CRM and have been heavily involved for many years. A chunk of that life is spent reviewing and reading research and maybe one of 50 or even one of 100 is any good. This report is exceptional because the data is irrefutable and the methodology they used is impeccable. The new customer that we ALL have to deal with is, in a takeoff on the words of Walt Kelley and Pogo - us - the same person who is reading this review. - We are the ones who understand and use Amazon to get a personalized and highly satisfactory experience with it because we know how to use the tools that Amazon provides us. We know how to get what we personally need. This personalization and direct relationship is a requirement demanded by the all in the new customer ecosystem. It is not considered a luxury. Mangen and Lee prove this. They not only are able to show what the new customer truly requires but they have the data that told me what the industries and businesses that I deal with everyday have to take into consideration to get that customer to work with them. This report is a true 'must have.' It's genuinely plain awesome."
This is truly a "one in a hundred" study that should not only shape company behavior now and in the future, but should also dramatically impact how the marketing, advertising and CRM industries structure their services. Customers Say What Companies Don't Want to Hear is a "must read" for anyone in any industry responsible for interactions with companies.
Customers Say What Companies Don't Want to Hear is a 151 page report including over 70 data charts and tables plus extensive commentary. The full-color report, which sells for $195, is available here.
|
