This is filed under the topic “counter-intuitive” marketing. In my experience, research is about asking the right questions in the right way. Do this and the answers will come.

Organizations often don’t dig deeply enough into what they really want to accomplish and consequently don’t ask the right questions. They get data that fills impressive presentation portfolios that lie on shelves gathering dust rather than solving business problems.

Research is a cost. The only thing that conducting research guarantees is that a cost will be incurred. Research is not a solution to a business problem but rather part of the path to a solution.

So, how do we use research effectively to help solve business problems?

You do this by asking the right questions in a 3-step process that begins at the “end.”

The end is the business goal you want to reach. For example, you want to reverse membership declines and establish consistent, sustainable net member growth of 2%-3% per year. In this way you are rooted in results.

Next, identify all areas in which actionable information will guide decisions. At this step it is important to follow the web of implications for any piece of new information. For example, the decision to evaluate current customer satisfaction raises the question of what prospective customers want. Will prospective customers be identical to current customers in their wants and needs? Using this process, you develop a research strategy rooted in the business objective.

Finally, let the research strategy determine the research approach or tactic.

All of this is to ensure that the right questions are asked. You want to avoid the following: You are approached after the research is completed and someone says, “I thought you were going to ask this question” (which wasn’t asked) or “We should have asked that question.” Or, even worse, you have data that does not address your business goal.

An outstanding piece of research is available at http://membershipmarketing.blogspot.com/2009/08/membership-marketing-benchmarking-final.html

It’s packed with valuable facts that can be helpful to any organization that seeks to build membership. Here’s a description:

In the spring of 2009, Marketing General, Inc. (MGI) launched a survey designed to gain insight into the tactics and strategies that associations use to recruit members, engage new members, renew existing members, and reinstate former members. The goal was to better understand what tactics correlate with higher new member input, better renewal rates, and overall membership growth.

Over 500 association professionals participated in the survey and shared their associations’ information and experiences.