Tom Kehler, Recipio's president and CEO, believes that all customer research -- qualitative and quantitative -- will soon move online. He is almost certainly right. Today, more and more companies are using AOL's Digital Marketing Services Inc. to conduct quantitative surveys that are large (1,500 - 2,000 respondents), statistically valid, and remarkably cheap. A Connecticut-based company called InsightExpress LLC will build you a sample of 750 respondents and conduct a 30-question poll for less than $2,000. The same parameters for a telephone-based research company would cost between $20,000 and $25,000.
It is said that only two things matter in utility businesses: price and security of supply. At the advent of the Internet Age, traditional research companies argued -- successfully -- that online research was flawed because a statistically valid sample could never be drawn from so-called early adopters. Thus, the "security of supply" was not insured. But we're way beyond that now. The truth is, unless you are conducting a major research project (like siting the next Toyota Camry plant in the United States), there is no longer any reason not to use online research firms. They're faster, cheaper, and, statistically speaking, every bit as good.
As more and more companies start using services such as Recipio and PlanetFeedback.com, the idea of "research projects" will erode into one never-ending consumer-feedback loop: the permanent ad campaign. Have a problem with Verizon or SBC? Let them have it at PlanetFeedback.com. Want to propose a new, more kid-friendly dental product to Procter & Gamble? Visit PG.com, and let them know. Want to learn what your customers think about your advertising? InsightExpress can have the numbers on your desk in an hour.
The Internet has begotten the Age of the Customer. Now, thanks to the ingenuity of people at companies like Recipio, PlanetFeedback.com, and InsightExpress, customers can vote on existing products and services. Even better, they can play an active role in the development of new ones. They can cocreate the products they wish to consume. The impact of this technology is just beginning to be felt. But they will become central to the operations of every company in very short order.
John Ellis (jellis@fastcompany.com) is a writer and consultant based in New York.
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