Over the past few months, we have seen some interesting mergers & alliances taking place within the global physician sample space including Epocrates and M3 partnering to create the world’s “largest” physician panel, Physicians Interactive and WorldOne creating the “largest” U.S. Market Research Network for Healthcare Professionals, GFK’s announcement that they will be combining Knowledge Networks PCN panel (a very high quality panel in my book) with GFK’s US Healthcare panel and then we also had All Global, M3 and Medefield partnering to launch the ‘The Trust Alliance’, an initiative to promote industry standards and best practices.

These recent developments are on the heels of a very aggressive pricing war amongst the healthcare sample providers in 2011.   And, I suspect that we will see more of this in 2012.  Navigating through these changes as well as the posturing and positioning that comes with them can be complex.   But, having been through our fair share of M&A activity in a previous life, I believe we are well equipped to continue to make sure we are selecting the best sample solution for every project that we execute.    Not trivial decisions considering that selection of data collection methodology and sample source has a massive impact on the overall quality and accuracy of data delivered to our clients.

Here is our take…

Bigger doesn’t mean better.  Our experience working at large global companies is that it is not realistic to be the best in every market.   You might be strong in Germany and France but really weak in Japan.  The same goes for the healthcare sample providers.   While some are making progress in strengthening their offerings, nobody has the best sample in every market across every specialty group.  Educated buyers will play to the strengths of each provider.

Transparency is key and something that is lacking in our industry.   It would be a lot easier to manage sample quality if sample providers were transparent on where they are sourcing their sample.   What percentage is coming from their in-house sample sources and what percentage is being purchased from other sources?    Be wary of the companies that are hesitant to share this information.   I don’t see any good reason why that information cannot be shared.  The volume of brokering that is currently happening without the client’s knowledge is scary.

Local expertise.   If we are executing a pan-European or pan-Asian project amongst PCPs, it makes perfect sense to use one global sample supplier to execute that project on your behalf.   But, as we start interviewing hard to reach specialists in emerging markets, our view is that the input from local experts on the ground is invaluable particularly as it relates to identifying the respondent we should be targeting, designing the screener, selecting data collection methodology and validating the interviews.    For this reason, a significant portion of our data collection budget will continue to be spent with high quality, local partners worldwide.

Bundling sample purchasing and programming services.   Certainly, this one could sound a little self-fulfilling given our business model but we feel that there are a lot of benefits in having an independent company manage the sample delivery and programming services.   Having your sample provider program & host the survey as well as provide the sample, has the risk of creating a black box where it becomes almost impossible for the researcher  to understand what happened during the data collection process.    Using an independent party provides additional safeguards including utilizing digital fingerprinting and sniffing technology to identify where the sample truly came from, measuring response rates, measuring duplication, understanding what percentage of the data was replaced as a result of speeders, etc.

Sample Blending is a necessity for certain projects.   Bottom line, it is unrealistic for an individual sample provider to deliver all of the sample on every project and that is why they leverage partners.   This is the case in the consumer and b2b worlds and it is no different in healthcare.   But, you can’t just blend without any controls in place and unfortunately some of the sample providers don’t have the research backgrounds to understand the potential impact to data quality.

Sample Validation.   With the high honoraria’s being offered, there is no question that physician surveys are attracting their fair share of fraudsters attempting to work the system.   The percentage of suspect respondents that we are replacing has steadily increased over the past 24 months.  Some of these individuals are getting more and more sophisticated in their efforts.   Some panel providers don’t have the assets (technology and call centers) to validate their new panel recruits.   We need to consistently make sure that our sample providers are taking the necessary steps to validate that the respondents are who they say they are.

We all must play our part in helping to make sure that the data that we are providing to our clients is of high quality.   Ultimately, the sample providers play a significant role here and if we are all a little more diligent in selecting sample partners on additional criteria other than just price, we will be doing our industry and clients a big favor.

Wishing all of our clients, partners and friends a happy New Year.

Our employee base is competitive in everything we do.   Check out this video on our recent Ping Pong tournament.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjFezsbqoFs

The days of interviewer guided “probing and clarification” are nearly a thing of the past.  Online quantitative research relies solely on a respondent to provide meaningful and elaborate responses in order for us, as research suppliers, to provide additional insight into the standard ratings elicited.

There are a couple of ways to collect more in-depth verbatim text responses from respondents.  First, ensuring an open-end text field is “required” will help.  Respondents are pretty savvy these days on how to bypass an open text box – i.e. entering a “space” as a valid response or simply typing “…”.  It’s our job as research suppliers to engage respondents in a way that guides them to provide us more.  So perhaps you include less open-ends but make some “required” and others “optional”.

Additionally, probing in an online quant study is not out of the question.  Here are a few examples:

-when a respondent provides their initial open text response and clicks “next”  to proceed we can dynamically display another text box to either probe or clarify based on the response given.  This can be slightly targeted or generic based on your project requirements.  If a respondent says “nothing” or “…” a probe might be “You mentioned nothing, in particular, stood out to you in this concept or ad.  Is there something you would suggest for making this concept or ad more appealing to you?”

-further adding the use of more targeted probing or clarification on key words can be done.  This requires a little more planning during the setup to account for “key-words” and derive more targeted probes around that.  For example, if a respondent mentions “price too high or expensive” vs. “packaging is bulky” your probe or clarification may be more specific to those issues.  “You mentioned the price was too high or expensive.  What price is more reasonable in that you would purchase this product?”  OR “What about the packaging would you improve?”

Respondent verbatims can provide another level of clarity behind a rating but there are a number of ways to show or summarize this information.  MRops can provide automated solutions to help.  Knowing what will work for your project can be overwhelming but here is a quick reference guide to help.

*Idea linkages show connections between multiple codes/nets and, further, can show how those codes/ nets relate to each other.  These types of reports are more visual and may include additional information such as frequencies by code and net.

This past weekend Kyle Derr and I participated in the 2011 MS 150 bike ride (charity event for Multiple Sclerosis).  We also comprised two thirds of “Team TBD”.  It’s a great event for a great cause; Kyle is a seasoned veteran who has participated in the ride for many years while this was just my second year.  In taking part in this event you really learn a lot about yourself and what can be accomplished by the following:

• Setting goals & training to meet those goals
• The power of numbers
• Team work & cooperation

I set a personal goal to finish the ride with a better time than last year.  By focusing on that goal, setting some training milestones and being dedicated to completing my weekly training rides I was able to complete the course 40 minutes faster than last years’ time.

The power of numbers is what helped me and the team set some pretty impressive fundraising numbers.  In total we were able to raise over $4,500 as a team.  Individually, I collected donations from over 80 people totally $2,845.  This truly can show you what the contributions of many can do!

Finally, the team work you see along the ride route is something to appreciate.  You stick together as a team and help each other out if someone gets a cramp, a flat tire or has some other mechanical problem.  It’s particularly impressive when you see complete strangers stopping to help people they probably won’t know for more than the 15 minutes spent repairing a tire.  That really says something about the event and the participants.

There are also the times when you are cruising along in a “pace line” where the rider at the front of the pack is “pulling” a line of bikes riding close together.  This is done so the trailing bikers have to spend less effort yet ride at a faster pace.  In these lines everyone takes a turn leading the pack and sharing in a coordinated effort to meet the end goal of finishing the ride.

This was a great experience and the lessons that were learned and applied on the road can also be seen on a daily basis at MRops.

• By setting goals you map out the plan for success.  This can be for an individual project or personal growth.
• The power of numbers can be seen through the amount of talented employees working at MRops.  Each team within the company has tremendous depth and you are always working with a professional.
• The amount of cooperation and teamwork that goes on daily company-wide is something to see and even better to be a part of.  Like the pace line mentioned earlier people are always willing to take and share the lead in order to reach our goals.

All of the employees at MRops believe in the principles above.  These are just some of the many reasons why it is great to be a part of a company such as MRops.

Team as defined by Wikipedia:

A team comprises a group of people or animals linked in a common purpose. Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks.

A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team. Teams normally have members with complementary skills and generate synergy through a coordinated effort which allows each member to maximize his/her strengths and minimize his/her weaknesses. Team members need to learn how to help one another, help other team members realize their true potential, and create an environment that allows everyone to go beyond their limitations

Based on the above definition, I have been lucky enough to be part of many good teams as well as part of what I would consider now groups.  The word/phrase that stands out to me from the above definition is “complementary skills” and this is what sets apart teams from groups.

At MRops, it is a true team to the definition.  Being here for 3 months already, and having done work from the client side for close to 3 years, I can truly say that.  Within each team there are those that are stronger operationally, stronger project management, stronger programming, stronger data processing and so on.  Rather than just hiring those that are strong in one area there is a nice mix of people.  Part of working at MRops is that you “fit-in” with the culture which is key to its success and team atmosphere.

This is clearly evident in the way things operate at MRops .  If a person needs help they can easily turn to someone in the office and find a co-worker that can help.  Even being new I’ve had no problem getting help in areas that I may be less familiar with, and at the same time I enjoy helping others in areas where I am stronger in.

I see people of different teams going to client meetings.  In past jobs, having members from different teams was frowned upon and in many cases viewed as stepping on someone’s turf.

When it comes to being covered while on vacation, you actually do have coverage.  There was a team that covered for me while on vacation from a project basis as well as a client basis.  In the past I did spend many vacation hours working and it was great to see the support and team that was there for me while away.

The people at MRops are not just colleagues, they are friends.  Many get together for drinks, sports and just to hang out.  This is critical to having a well-oiled machine.

The Phillies are one of the best teams in baseball, because they have a great combination of pitching, defense and hitting, but if you have seen them outside of playing baseball, you see they truly like being around each other.  For example, when they signed Hunter Pence, Chase Utley called him and picked him up to show him the ropes and how to prepare.  He also brought him a cup of coffee.

What makes  MRops unique, is not just the great people or wealth of knowledge, but it is the TEAM that is there to support projects and work with clients.

Last week, we received really good news.  MRops was ranked as the 338^th fastest growing private company in the Inc 500/5000 list.   We were the 44^th fastest growing company in the advertising/marketing industry and the 14^th fastest growing company in the Philadelphia region.

Internally, this was very exciting news for our employees worldwide.   It is nice to be recognized as a company that is growing and generating new jobs.

For our existing and potential clients, it really doesn’t mean anything.   All that matters to them is that we continue to deliver the highest level of service and provide them with additional value to grow their business that they have come to expect.   Thankfully, our team understands that bigger is not always better and we are very focused internally to continue to deliver the highest levels of service while at the same time maintaining the great company culture that is important to all of our employees.

Since the list was announced in the Inc 500 magazine and on their web site, the traffic to our web site has increased.   We have also seen a significant increase in the number of unsolicited resumes that we are receiving as a result of this exposure which is great news as we are always looking for great talent.

The VC and investment community use the Inc 500 list to identify potential companies to invest in and over the past week, we have been contacted by over 10 VC and equity firms that were interested in learning more about us.    In 2007, when we started the company, we attempted to raise capital from investors but the economic climate was not good and we were perceived as too big a risk so nobody was willing to invest.  It is funny how things change.

When I began my internship here at MRops in May, my knowledge of the field of market research was limited. As an international business major, I have to admit all I really knew was that companies conduct market research in order to make educated, well calculated decisions. What I did not know was the complicated chain of events that takes place from the time an end client decides to conduct a study to the point when respondents access the survey.

The twelve weeks I spent working with the project managers at the Doylestown office opened my eyes to this international, dynamic, and growing industry. I had the opportunity to learn the process from beginning to end and to take an interactive part in it. Throughout the summer, I experienced first hand the process of harvesting the important information companies use to make decisions.

I also had the pleasure of working with, and even meeting some of our team in India. The efficiency of communication with India, despite the time difference, and their willingness to go above and beyond was remarkable. I was excited to have a truly international experience.

MRops prides itself on quality and professionalism, but equally as much on its unique business culture. Even from the beginning, I was able to pick up on the vibe of teamwork and enthusiasm that exudes from all of the employees. I’d have to say I was very fortunate to have my first professional work experience with such helpful and kind coworkers. Right off the bat it was evident that each person here cares about one common goal: providing high quality and friendly service to our clients.

Each day I entered the office confident that I would not only be able to help someone with a study, but also that I would learn something new. It was a pleasure to be able to spend the summer working in such an upbeat and forward moving atmosphere.

A few months back I had the opportunity to travel to Deerfield, Il, a suburb of Chicago, along with the other half of our accounting and finance department for some training and systems development.  After our first marathon session of SQL programming and best practices presentations we found ourselves firmly perched on the bar stools of a local PF Changs.   While discussing the events of the day we noticed a man walk into the restaurant that we recognized from our training sessions.  Seeing that he was alone we invited him to join us for a bite to eat.  He joined in our conversation and we brought him up to speed, where we worked, how our respective system implementations were going, having a few laughs along the way.  He then asked us what department we were in at our company.  “Accounting”, we replied readily.  Our new friend immediately became silent as an expression of bewilderment came over his face, struggling to reconcile the events of the past hour with the reality that he was, in fact, having a good time with a bunch of accountants.  After staring at us for a minute, clearly shocked by our answer to his simple question he said, “You are the most personable accountants I have ever met…”

What was otherwise an unremarkable conversation got me thinking about my chosen profession.  Why do I have to be boring and rigid because I have a strange proclivity toward analyzing numbers?   This then really got me thinking about some of the other number crunchers I know and I came to the conclusion that, perhaps, the boring accountant stereotype isn’t totally made up and that I am actually pretty fortunate to work with such fun people.

This finally brings me to the point of this article.  And that point is the importance of promoting a company culture at all levels of an organization.  When you ask what makes MRops special the first thing you are bound to hear is the people.  It’s not uncommon to find a company that has friendly, dynamic people on their sales team but when you walk into their actual office you can find a very different story.  What is truly different is having friendly, dynamic, and well rounded individuals in all functions of an organization, whether they are client facing or in an office crunching numbers all day.  The people are what truly differentiate MRops.

We have noticed a recent boost in the inflow of studies we conduct in Turkey, indicating that international businesses are increasing their expenditures on marketing and advertising particularly in this growing nation.

Turkey’s strategic placement at the convergence of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East makes it an attractive hub for investment and trade. Aside from having an ideal location, the “Anatolian Tiger” is currently experiencing growth in population, GDP, and infrastructure. In fact, Turkey is ranked 16^th in the world in GDP growth rate, which currently averages around 8.2%. Turkey weathered the global financial crisis much better than most developing nations, and its per capita income has tripled in the past decade. This suggests a growing middle class population with disposable income; no wonder businesses are increasing their interest in Turkey!

Politically, the potential addition of Turkey to the European Union has shed positive light on its reputation in the western world. The steps Turkey has made to meet EU requirements have improved democracy, political freedom, human rights, and stability. That being said, becoming a member of the EU will no longer put a stamp of approval on Turkey, as it has proved its success independently.

In regards to market research, Turkey is undergoing significant improvements and modernization to its telecommunications network, particularly in the mobile sector. It continues to see rapid growth in mobile subscribership. Many people in emerging markets access the Internet exclusively through mobile devices, as this is less expensive. With market research going increasingly mobile, Turkey’s parallel improvements in this sector will make it opportune for mobile research. Additionally, Turkey’s 27 million Internet users rank it at 15^th in the world in Internet usage.

Although there is significant opportunity, there are a couple of potential obstacles market research could face in Turkey. The nation’s relatively low literacy rate, averaging only 87%, is a key factor to keep in mind. Literacy is unevenly distributed between women at 79.6%, and men at 95.3%. This is an important fact to consider when conducting studies geared toward a particular sex. The presence of multiple languages could also present a hurdle for market research. While most speak Turkish, nearly 20% of the population speaks Kurdish, and other minority languages exist in percentages as high as 12%. Compared to neighboring countries, however, there are not an overwhelming amount of languages.

With economic growth and political advances, paired with improvements in mobile and Internet infrastructure, we can expect to see a continued influx in market research geared toward Turkey. This sometimes overlooked emerging market is likely to continue to surprise.