The dramatic growth in the use of qualitative research within the consumer sector is well documented. Weekly, we receive announcements of new facility openings and experienced moderators tell us their schedules are full. This area of information gathering is being exploited to its fullest by research practitioners.

In business-to-business research, however, there is still reluctance among many marketers to believe that their customers and prospects will be willing to discuss, with competitors, issues which are of importance to these marketers. More than once, marketers questioned my proposals calling for business-to-business focus groups because they did not believe we could recruit the right people or that the people would be candid with competitors or peers in a focus group setting.

My experience has proven the opposite is true. When properly recruited, a higher percentage of business-to-business types are likely to accept focus group invitations than one would obtain in general consumer group recruiting. Also, because of the knowledge and interest in their business field, individuals attending this type of focus group session usually are quick to establish rapport with others who have similar interest and knowledge. This rapport assists the moderator when the discussion turns towards sensitive areas such as pricing and product support. I specifically recall a project I worked on where this occurred.

New product

The project involved the introduction of a new product. This product was to be added during the manufacturing process and would be substituted for products presently available. Manufacturers would have the choice of staying with the original products, dropping the old products and adding the new one, or, the most expensive alternative, continuing with the original products and offering items with the new product as well. The last alternative was the most expensive because it would mean greater inventory costs and shorter production runs due because it was likely that total production would not increase.

Our objective was to determine the criteria which was to decide product selection. We assumed that considerable weight was given to quantitative items such as cost, technical data and availability. We did not know the relative importance of each of these quantitative items. We also believed that there were other important elements which could only be determined through qualitative research. In this case, qualitative research meant focus groups.

Specifier groups

We were able to assemble three groups of specifiers. These were the individuals who were the final decision-makers on product selection. They were not strangers to each other as they had met at industry trade shows and association meetings. In most instances, the companies management structures were similar so that those attending were about the same level, i.e. middle management. The individuals attending had been told in advance the purpose of the meeting as well as who else would attend. We treated them as the professionals they were.

All three meetings were spectacular successes. The discussions ranged from the technical data available on all of the products to the marketing techniques used by each of the other manufacturers as they attempted to solidify their position with their customers and prospects.

About the only discussion point we didn't get information on was whether the new product would be added. And that was only because the participants had not received enough information for an evaluation.

Marketing plan

The client was thrilled with the results. The information obtained from these sessions provided the key elements for the marketing plan which was developed to introduce the new product. Budgets were revamped, new pricing strategies were instituted, and changes in personnel assignments were made due to expected variation in work flow.

Fruitful focus groups

Not all business-to-business focus group program results may be as spectacular as this one. But many can be fruitful in obtaining information not obtainable through quantitative means. The use of focus groups in business-to-business research has lagged behind consumer research. However, as marketers realize the feasibility of conducting these studies and the additional insight they will provide for the marketing of products and services, I believe we will see a steady increase in their use.