Research, Analysis and Consulting Services

Building Success Using IDC Customer Analysis

Launching a new product or solution is a challenge. There are large risks involved, risks such as making the wrong investments, risk of slow market acceptance and risk that the competitor takes the market instead. The difference between success and failure lies in a launch that fits the customers' needs. Knowing how customers think is the key to making good decisions for marketing and product people. IDC adds value to your decision process by turning your assumptions on customers into knowledge and insight.

IDC Customer Analysis identifies critical factors for customer success:

• Timing
• Functions and Features
• Price
• Packaging
• Potential Market size
• Target market
• Marketing strategy & competition
• Preferences for specific vendors
• Customer awareness

Why Use IDC Customer Analysis?

An IDC Customer Analysis enables you to test your hypothesis on customers before it costs you a fortune. It provides optimal input for your business decision and answers the critical questions you must address.

• IDC's palette of customer analysis ena- bles synergy of qualitative and quantitative research - our experience covers surveys, panels, focus groups and case studies
• IDC takes the full responsibility of the project. We advise on methodology and sample, develop the questionnaire, collect data and process & present the results
• IDC has the market expertise to focus the analysis on the core issues. We combine the result with our vast information available through standard research, so that your analysis is understood in its market context.
• IDC's independent market research ensures unbiased and high quality response

Know About Your Customers

Tools and Methodologies

Customer Analysis - Telephone interviews based on standard questionnaries
IDC does representative studies, stratified studies or trend-showing studies depending on the project scope. IDC experts develop questionnaires, choose samples and process results, survey houses do the actual interviewing.

We use standard statistical methods and tools to process the collected data, and the result evaluation draws upon on market expertise.

Case studies - personal interviews
Case studies are carried out as in-depth interviews - most often face-to-face - by IDC market experts. The dialogue uses semi structured interview guides, not questionnaires to ensure the detailed understanding and quality

Focus Groups
A professionally guided discussion among a group of customers. The methodology enables the customers to develop their points of view along the way, giving higher quality than an immediate not too well reflected response to a question would give.

Recent Consulting Projects

Customer Analysis of Service Requirements
Scope: A telecom operator wanted to test the pricing model and packaging of a new service before launch
Benefit: The price model was not competitive, whereas the product itself had a large customer appeal. The model could be adjusted before launch and a market failure was prevented. The criticial parameter of success was identified in time so that competitors could not take the market while our client analysed the problem.

Customer Analysis of Buying Criteria
Scope: A hardware vendor wanted to adjust his channel and selling strategy by finding out in which IT-situations customers would buy new servers.
Benefit: The survey showed that the hypothesis on what was driving the market was wrong. Customers were buying in other situations than expected and the vendor found he should change his partner strategy.

Case study on ASP Difficulties
Scope: A client considered launching an ASP service. The client wanted to get beyond the negative hype and understand the real issues and experiences from customers who had tried ASP.
Benefit: Case studies were used to clarify responsibilities and improve quality of partner agreements and to understand the economy in the solution - for the user and consequently for the vendor. The case studies could also have been used for a white paper on ASP.

For more information on this or other IDC research, please contact IDC Nordic Sales or your local IDC representative: