:-part I

154

Researchin Marketing

> Exhibit 6-8 CPM Schedule

Final check of background recoros

Comolete

Code data

Field

questionnaire interviewing^ and analyze

Completeexecutive
z
questionnaire

Meet
client

lnterview
executives

Critical Path:
s-1-3-4-7-8-9-E

Milestones:

Proposal apProval
7 lntewiews completed
I Final repon completed

Time to Completion:
40 working days

designedfor project managementsimplify sc

CpM chart is shown in Exhibit 6-g. Software programs
personal computers'
ing and charting the schedule.Most are availabie for

Facllitiesand $PecialResources

that should be described in detail' For examl

Often, projects wiII require special facilities or resources
for focus group sessions'Computer-assisted
contract exploratory study may need specialized facilities
your proposed data analysis may
phone or other interviewing facilities may be required. Alternatively,

n1"1.ut:"::,t"T
dg?;,h-t' andtlelefore-{oo
sophisticated
11"-q}1'::l,t^t::}:":::::1
that
facilitiesandresources
"ornpot.,ffi;.H;;;p*J
listtherelevant
'no"rocaretully

#iff;?;ffi]lo

in your budget'
be used. The costs for such iacilityuse should be detailed

Prolect Managernent

t:"T,t;
the sPonsorthatthe::::f:l
The purposeof the project managementsectionis to show
showhow all
to
projects
complex
ior
required
is
plan
efficiently.A masrer
,',i'" i,"i," u" ;; ;;;;"
phaseswill be broughttogether.Theplan includes:
, The researchteam's organization'
. Management proceduresand controls for erecuting the researchplan'
. Examples of management and technical reports'
. The reseatch team's relationship with the sponsor'
" Financial and legal responsibility'
. Management competence.
plan, The relationships between researchers ant
Tables and charts are most helpful in presenting the master
part of the team' Sponsorsmust know that the di
assistantsneed to be shown when several researchersale
as a usefuI liaison to the sponsor'In addition
rector is an individual capable of leading the team and acting

>Part I

156

Researchin Marketing

CompleteCareSatlsfaction
for MindWriter
Proposal
lnsights'
> Exhibit 6-9 Visionary

Repair ProcessSatisfactionProposal
MindWriler Corporation CompleteCareProgram
Problem Statement
^---1^,^.^16
portable^aptop/noteserviceandrepairprogram,completecare' for its
Mindwriter corporation hasrecentlycreateda

rno p,og'u'iffi'"'io p'*io" "r"a319'":ry::::::::':tr:'':T]::.'::it*n'ter.

computers.
packase
book
o*Xo::f{,::J,'iJ:i'"H,ff,1irP,.j";"1"n,;;h;;;;";rT..h"diechnicar
rhepackage
center'rhe
in its terephone
operarors
to pi"r.up^Iio'ieil:;;;#'
courier,contracteo
*ri

",

-""ni"*

Mi
," C"Trl:t::-T"' hasprovidedirregularexecution'

for some machine types'

n^ dso experienced parts availability problems

Recentphonelogsatthe;ii;;;;'"o'nprui*'

these '
representative

1!::lt1Tn]::::i:::*:.:*:ffi1"w
rorsatisractill

'n"v'uv have
;;ili;;'
?;;ffi;;
todetermine
determin
:lf,,Y:1Y1l il":lil[; sarisraction
*"4:*:::*;::lT:1::":i"":'"'1,
".;ffi;
mro,i.lti#;nti#9;;''
desi,",
Management
*T"'S::il:t"
servicing'
repairand
product
*n"Tffi1".TTffi"#ffi;'c;;iJ;a;;;rogram
Research

Objectives

frffffi:

}|?*ffiJiln,,

forMindwrirer

-.:-L .L^
a.ruice
nrosra
Specificallv"!
program'
service
completecare
the-^--r-+a.-4ra
with
,o*r"overthelevetof satisfaction
:
components of the repatr

levels of satisfaction with completeCare'

*a
we intend to iden,rr, *" ..-n"t"*
"""t"u because they reveal:
process are imponant targes ior investigation
rnd.

*r"*oJr"'"i' ri' '"p* p"'f,T*:jg::::"f"i,il,::':1:::i""#$,o"'

(1)How
cusorMindwriter
satisraction
overall
"*,o-", :;Tffiffi"o'i;.#ili;*"ry
i-p.o'"atoelevate
",
fiffiTffi
8]
to-mers experiencing product failures'
we will also discover the ;;;*;,yp*

levels'
of product failure on customer satisfaction

infl,
innuendonsemens
endoGments
rhese
^, -^,,rh -nvrrr.r cn.ronements. Thes
lTfL[?'"":'J':ffliio9" gi11" T':-ry11::":1]:,-,::y,t3i:fndorsements'
encethepurchaseoutcomeslor(1)friendsandrclativesand(2)businessassoclates.
o eitherundermine-:fT:Ys#*;--""irffi*
.o"r, ^ pr;o"ifuilu'o, ha'e te poteotiar
Criticalincidents,
orthe i
onthequaritv
depends
."--. .r $eepisode
n
*.:Tffil::;::ift ::ffffffiJ;l;;##;;.

Importance/Benefits

levelsto
usersatisfaction
to suchi'.idens *ill,ry.t,T:Y"e
by themanufacturer
pigra111:tltl11!
such
indire"it"n"nt' derivedfrom
Y::f"
,fr" p.iti ,ft", tlirect-and
'iter customersatisfactionprogramsandmeasuring

t*"*':;:tfi"r:"rnonse

ongo'o! Miodn
This researchhasthe potentialfof connectingto
failure incidentst on customersatisfaction'
the long_termeffe"t, of cornpi"t"C*riorra priuo

Resgarch Desigrr
the
r---^^- L-,:nr6n,i--,ino
the service
seflice manager,
manaser.the
by-hterviewing the
We will augment our knowledge of CompleteCare
Exploration: Qualitative
inventory of coma
thorough
on
Based
comp-yl.-"."o*a..ecutive.
call center manager, and the independentpackage
interial and external processes'.*" pTp",:-t:d-tl*1r""3:t^t#:tl;e
pi"r"c*"',
securin
for securing
method for
,;;::#:;,;:';;,#"
mosr cosr-effectivemethod
@,t".d.i,.) off"., themosrcost-effective
T::li:.'ffi"#;;;"!',il;":
cunent
Mindwriter's
of
variation
a
be
will
postcald
the
The introduction on
feedback on the effectiveness of completecare.

modei, and item(s) serviced'

to be arrangedin a few days'
, *d "bosinerr reply" privileges
costs'
o weeks. The budget section itemizes these

>chapter 6

The MarketingResearchRequestand proposalprocess

157

> Exhibit 6-9 Concluded

Pilnt Test we will test the questionnaire with a small sample of customersusing your techJine
operators.This will contarn your costs We will then revise the questions and forward them to our graphics designer
for layout. The instrument
will then be submined to you for final approval.
Evaluation of Nonresponse Bias A random sample of 100 names will be securedfrom the
list of customers who do not
retum the questionnaire Call center records will be used for establishing the sampling frame
Nonresponderswill be interviewed on the telephone and their responsescompared statistically to those of the responders.

Data Analysis
We will review the postcardsretumed and send you a weekly report listing customerswho
are dissatisfied (score a .,1,, or
"2") u ith any item of the questionnaire or who submit a negative comment. This
will improve your timeliness in resolvrng
customer complaints Each month, we will provide you with a report consisting of frequencies
and category percentages
for each question Visual displays of the data will be in bar chart/histogram form. we jropose
to irclude at least one !uestion dealing with overall satisfaction (with CompleteCare and/or MindWriter). This overuli question
would be regressed
on the individual items to determine each item's importance. A performance grid will identify
items needing impiovement
with an evaluation of priority other analysescan be prepared on a time and materials basis
The open-endedquestronswill be summarized and reported by model code. If you wish, we also
can provide content
analysis for these questions

Results:Deliverables
l Development and production of a postcard survey MindWriter employees will packagethe questionnaire
with the
returned merchandise.
2' Weekly exception reports (transmitted electronically) listing customerswho meet the dissatished
customer criteria.
3. Monthly reports as described in the data analysis section.
4' Master Spreadsheetsand data files with each month's data shipped to Austin by the fifth working
day of each month.

Budget
Card Layout and Printing
Based on your card estlmate,our designer will lay out and print 2,000 cards in the frst run
($500). The specifications are as foliows: 7-point Williamsburg offset
hi-bulk with on"-or".-oo" black ink. A gray-scale
layer with a MindWriter logo or CompleteCare can be positioned under the printed material
at a nominal charte. The twosidedcardslneasure4 l/4by 5 I/2.
This allo$'s us to prht four cards per page. The opposite side will have the business reply logo, postage
paid symbol, and address.
Cost Summary
Interviews
$ 1,550.00
Travel costs
2,500.00
Questionnaire development
1,850.00
Equipment/supplies
1,32500
Graphicsdesign
800.00
Pennit fee (annual)
75 00
Business reply fee (annual)
185.00
Box rental (annual)
35.00
Printing costs
500.00
Data entry (monthly)
430.00
Monthly data files (each)
50.00
Monthly reports (each)
1,850.00
Total start-up costs
$ 1 r , 1 5000
Monthly run costs
$1.030.00*
*An additional fee of 0 2l per
ctd
cost to be less rhan 950

will be dsessed b] the post office forbusiness reply mail At approximately a

30 percent retum rate, we estimate the monthlv

.part I

Researchin Marketing

SaraArms
200 ShellPoint
Palm Beach,Florida
Mr. Harry ShiPleY, President
Economic DeveloPment Council
1800 PinkFlamingo WaY
Palm Beach, Florida 33480
Dear Harry:
in short' I
of the job creation practices of local companies and'
I have reviewed Robert Buffet,s proposal for an investigation
'p'opo'sut

*ltn.J*u".i'ip""o"r tn"
con""m"a
verymuch
am
*;::,H";il;ffi
p*JJ*i
#;i#r;ffi;;o

" tt i' no;**'

3T:ry,'l::
it:::,:]::T":Tl:1"T,5**
r.
Inatvisionary
director
aproject
Henry,
Iason
r' mycoileago",
tti'^opiTon
t*'t
una
proje"t'
onse'eral
witnrason
sightsI haveworked
Y: l:T:li::tl1'":tffll::H::::,:::
i.?"
beawa1,1t:.
th1rer1i1

;:il:Hffiffi;;

ffi;;;

;';;;': ;d v:umu:t

1":::1i:::T::#:::':::i:::

:
weeks you
tt l' letter to you in two days rather than the two
haps discount the opinions Stated;ere. S'ince I am deliv"ring
otners'
requested,you may wish to discussmy comments wrth
plan fol our county, but since it lacks many features
what you and Mr. Buffet gave mgis an abbreviated research
state comit was noith" full p'oposal that had been funded by the
found in a comprehensive proposal, I immediately saw
to say if she was
refused
and
hawed
and
hemmed
who
woman
young
merce secretary. I called Tallahassee and reached a
she could mail it
gave up alguing and gave her your address and told her
authorized to mail me the full proposal. Finally, I
to you if she experienced - o.ttbt"uk of belief in government-in-the-sunshile'
senior
you know that this research idea is being floated by our
I then made several calls to people in Tallahasiee. Did
whispered it to
senator
The
plan?
tax
incentives
president's
the
into
U S. senator,who ls eager to throw a monkey wrench
secretary, and here we are'
compa., in short, it posesthe questions, "Are new high-tech
the
,nging technical and manufacturing workers from outside
'"J"*ln in these companies with a low level of manufacturing
the verbiage'
ont that does not create jobs?" If you cut tfuough
IS.

rn th$
Buffet's people are going to identify all the comparues
hired emof
locally
number
the
on
information
coilect
r" and
other finanalso collect data on capital investments' debt' and
do'
to
easy
be
to
:ct and ought
the
is fuIl o1 platitudes and does not get around to mentioning
There is a section called Importance of the Study, which
tax legislation. But at least the platitudes-areOi"j ^
pending
..raam,,and
*"?ft*"ffiii?1"1:;;;;"rign
-^ on
^- ^:+^
onrl conduct
cnnrlucr individin.ivid.
""
with-a "team"
sire...:+h
groupto go
rt cansfor Mr.Buffer,s
section.
the data
enter
and
company
each
of
comptroller
(COO), treasurer, and
ual depth interviews with the chiJf operating officer
friend' and both of them assureme that a
a
banker
with
also
and
Jason
with
this
into a spreadsheet.I have double-checked
unstruchlred
is no need whatsoeverto send in a team to conduct
simple questionnaire might be mailed to the COO. There
out a form' this might apfilling
with
associated
problem
a
noncompliance
open-endedinterviews. while there might be
state commerce secretary and your Economic Development
propriately be addressedby pointing orit the auspices-the
Council-with an interview rqquest as a last resort
would have
researcherswho will comprise the team' The firm
The proposal contalns no iuag", and no specific list of
the stated researchobiecbeyond
stray
to
the
subjects
to
induce
try
and
payroll
carte blanche to go in with anyone on their
tc
would be a marketing tool and might allow the researchers
tives to talk about anything ai all Obviously such license
sectton'
problem
the
in
stated
as
needs,
the
secretary's
to
i", of researchabl problems not related
a"'"",
your
"
through a simple mail suwey Offer to send it out under
I strongly ad.|'ris"yoo to tell Mr. Buffet to collect the information
out But do not subject yow
it
send
to
offtce
govemor's
the
even
or
office
council's letterhead, or seeif you can get the commerce
visits, which are clearly notjustified by ttre researchobjecnves'
Iocal business community to unstructrued,ftee-ranging
Sincerely,

,9ano