Regularly surveying customers is a common practice among successful companies. Customer research is a complicated process that requires an investment of time and money. Many companies outsource customer surveys to survey research firms for three reasons:
1) it saves time;
2) it saves money and, most importantly;
3) it leaves survey design and analysis in the hands of highly trained professionals.
Why do companies make this investment in customer research? Because they believe that knowledge of customer behaviors, attitudes, and perceptions can lead to increased profits. However, there are two different types … Continue Reading…
NBRI - Getting the Most Out of Your Customer Research (86)


As gaming establishments have increased in number, so has the competition between them. As competition increases it becomes vital to a gaming establishment’s survival to gain an advantage over the competition in attracting customers. Just how can this be accomplished?
In the life cycle of organizations, employee behaviors need to evolve. Behaviors that are appropriate in the growth phase of a company must adapt to meet current and future needs. Such was the case in 2007 with Cobham Defense Systems in San Diego when I signed on as vice president of human resources. The company, now called Cobham Sensor Systems, manufactures sophisticated radio frequency and microwave devices for defense and homeland security arenas.
Organizational psychologists know there is a relationship between employee satisfaction and organizational effectiveness. Even though the relationship between individual-level employee satisfaction and individual-level performance is not very strong, organizational performance is not simply a sum of individuals’ performances. There are factors other than those affecting individual-level performance that influence organizational performance. For example, “shared values” can be one of these factors. If your employees share positive attitudes they will typically have norms of collaboration and cooperation, norms that enhance productivity.
Whether your business is academic, membership, general business, marketing, not-for-profit, for-profit, social, political, product or service related, you will most likely identify the need to conduct a survey at some point. The question becomes, do you do it yourself or work with a full service survey research firm?