Once upon a time, not so long ago, people used to leave their homes and gather in nondescript rooms around large tables to participate in face-to-face conversations with strangers…

It might sound like a fairytale, but for decades, researchers would travel from market to market, facilitating in-person, group conversations aimed at learning what people thought about a company, brand or product. What I’m describing are focus groups.

Talking to customers is always a good idea, but for many business leaders, it can be hard to know when to make the investment. Here are just a few signs that it’s time to do consumer research…

Learning how to bake bread is different than deciding which kind of bread is your favorite. Researching destinations for your next vacation is different than trying to find the cheapest airfare to get you there. In each scenario, you have different questions and need different answers.

Same goes for custom research. “We’re losing market share and need to innovate ASAP!” makes for a drastically different project than “We need to know which design best resonates with our target audience.”

Picture yourself in December 2019.

Then in April 2020.

And now think about what your life is like today.

No surprise: it’s different. The pandemic has accelerated change in every aspect of our lives and as a result, a lot of our perceptions and behaviors have changed. And yet…we talk to clients all the time who are still operating from a pre-pandemic understanding of their customers.

Trend reports, market predictions and the latest technology are important when you’re trying to generate new ideas. In fact, most innovation teams feast on these inputs, as they offer inspiration at the highest level. Unfortunately, these same teams often overlook the more tangible, virtually bottomless well of inspiration standing in front of them: their customers.

The promise of Net Promoter Score (NPS) is great: A single metric that can both evaluate the success of your brand AND predict growth! It's no wonder that so many brands use it.

Have you heard of Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology? Customers simply “login” (via phone scan in this case) when they enter the store, then grab what they want and digitally “checkout” by simply leaving the store.

It’s been the utopian dream of big box retail since the early aughts: No more cash registers. No more angry customers standing in line. The true definition of frictionless retail. Plus think of all the data!

The principle of finding out what people need in order to design the right solution seems simple enough. Yet, we see examples everyday of this principle being discarded in favor of “solutions” that lean a lot farther toward the needs of those designing them rather than those they are supposed to serve.

What does “value” mean to you as a consumer? Does it mean something different when you’re staying at a hotel vs. shopping in the grocery store?

Even if your definition centers on price, there are non-monetary variables at play as well. Consistency, reliability, accessibility, convenience. These are just a few of the common ways a consumer might define value. But there are also all of the emotional benefits that come with these experiences.

If you make just ONE resolution for your brand this year, let it be this: Talk to your customers more.

Now is the time to invest in staying relevant with your customers …