The researcher in me LOVES data like the list from my Grammarly subscription. Tone matters, so I was super happy to see words like ‘friendly,’ ‘curious,’ and ‘joyful’ pop up on my weekly summary list!☺️🎈💕

At the same time, I see the limitations of some research. Satisfaction surveys show how well existing benefits, products, and services perform compared to prior performance. But many organizations need to innovate, so asking ‘how are we doing’ questions doesn’t prime the innovation pump. Net promoter score questions are often profoundly flawed. Like this one, “Based on your recent call with a representative, how likely would you recommend us to a friend or family member?” So many other factors go into the recommendation decision that it’s hard for respondents to separate their contact experience. I never answer this question because I worry a contact center representative might be needlessly punished. Examples of haphazard surveys are too numerous to list, so I tend to approach a lot of market research with some skepticism.

AI will likely change market research forever. Not just because AI will be able to analyze great swaths of qualitative data accurately but also because organizations will get better at collecting data for the AI to run. But, but, but…but, having access to all the data in the world and more powerful systems of analysis won’t help if we don’t ask the right questions first.

Each time we look at our data, it is helpful to revisit goals. What do we hope to learn? What are we going to do with the information? Who will we help, serve, or impress when we get the answers we need? Answers without the right prompting questions often don’t really help.