Qualitative Research

For a dental insurance provider, conducting a series of focus groups with dentists, to learn how they decided which dental insurance programs to accept, how they handled certain administrative functions, how they would feel about a range of innovations the client was considering, and how they felt about the client's current services, customer service, accuracy, and other business policies. We conducted a companion series of focus groups with benefits managers to learn how they decided which dental insurance program to offer their employees, what they and their employees expected from their dental insurance provider, why some did business with brokers versus with the client directly, and what their greatest headaches were with various insurance programs and similar employee benefit programs. Based on the results of both sets of focus groups, the client made both internal and marketing changes that allowed it to dramatically increase its market share in a relatively short period of time.

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For a large global manufacturer of truck shock absorbers, conducting conjoint-based focus groups with large, mid-sized and small fleet owners to learn more about the purchase process. We also conducted focus groups with distributors of truck shock absorbers, to help the client more fully appreciate the differences in buying needs and patterns throughout their various markets. As a result of this work, the client was able to respond to emerging issues, and retain customers they would most likely have lost.

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Conducting a series of focus groups with people participating in a jointly funded federal / state re-employment pilot program. The program was designed to work with people who had lost their jobs in large-scale lay-offs, to increase their skills in ways that would make them more employable in the future. The goal of our work was to learn how program participants felt about this pilot program, so it could be refined before being introduced on a larger scale.