What to look for in B2B research companies

Key takeaways: Not all B2B research companies will deliver great results and recommendations, then help you take the next steps. We recommend looking for industry expertise, customized research approaches, appropriate use of technology, global reach, transparency, and post-research support.

B2B market research is more challenging to conduct than B2C studies. B2B industries require specialist knowledge that researchers can only acquire with experience and a specific set of skills.

That’s one of the reasons why some business-to-business companies choose to do their market research in-house. In some cases, this approach can also work out to be more cost-effective when the budget is tight.

However, in-house research is also challenging in B2B, mainly due to the time required to recruit and interview the target audience properly. For example:

• The business decision-makers you need feedback from are often senior staff who are very busy and receive lots of requests for their time.
• Building their trust and getting their buy-in is a long-term process.
• They often have gatekeepers – it may take you a long time to get access to the right people for your research.

But this extra time waiting for answers and input is a luxury you probably don’t have. B2B marketing and sales strategies are usually time-sensitive.

And delaying the research process usually has hidden costs, such as increasing time-to-market for your new product or service.

Furthermore, even with great in-house research expertise, you miss independent analysis, often critical to creating a great strategy.

That’s why using a market research agency can not only save you time, but more accurate answers to address your business challenges.

However, not every market research agency will deliver great results and recommendations, then help you take the next steps. To maximize your chances of choosing outstanding market research services, we recommend looking for:

• Industry expertise
• Customized research approaches
• Appropriate use of technology
• Global reach 
• Transparent communication and reporting
• Post-research support

Industry expertise

A lack of specificity from the market research provider runs the risk of producing generic insights, with vague answers lacking in detail at the results stage:

• If the researchers aren’t familiar enough with your industry, the questions they add to the questionnaire or topic guide could be too generalized.
• While analyzing the results, they might miss key details, or overlook terminology they don’t understand, that a sector expert wouldn’t.
• Most worryingly, there is a risk they will recruit the wrong profile of respondents for fieldwork, meaning that you’re not really getting insights from your target market

That’s why it’s important to choose a B2B market research company with experience doing studies in your sector and specialized industry knowledge.

For example, we independently specialize in B2B research – for industries including SaaS, automotive, logistics, and financial services. We have specialist expertise in niche sectors such as oil and gas, construction, telecoms, pharmaceutical and life science.

We also know how to find real B2B decision-makers in these industries – a specialist skill because these respondents are very rarely on research panels.

Customized research approaches

Many market research agencies provide off-the-shelf services with minimal tailoring to their clients’ context or objectives.

This approach is more efficient for the agency – the projects are quicker and more profitable to sell and deliver when the approach doesn’t need to change.  

But by buying an off-the-shelf research service, you run the risk that the project will:

• Only partially answer your research questions
• Provide some (or lots of) irrelevant data and information

We believe that the only way to get answers to your research objectives, that will support your business goals, is through fully customized research.

That’s why we don’t sell off-the-shelf research. We write fresh proposals based on every enquiry, specifically tailored to meet the research objectives as accurately as possible.

Moreover, at the start of every project, we spend hours speaking to stakeholders and familiarizing ourselves with the business. It’s the only way to deliver valuable insights and recommendations at the end of the project that are realistic, relevant, and actionable.

Use of (appropriate) advanced technology

Research agencies should tell you about the advanced technology they’re planning to use as part of their proposal and what benefits it should deliver.

For instance, we use different techniques for each project that tend to extract important and otherwise hidden insights that direct questioning cannot. These include ‘in the moment’ data collection, data science and statistics, A/B testing, projective techniques, and more.

But watch out for market research companies that seem to focus more on technology than the insights or results that they’ll deliver. Technology in market research should be a means to a clear end.

Watch out for res-tech providers that use expensive technology just for the sake of it, or consultants planning to use AI to automate the work, but still charge high rates.

Global reach

For international market research, always use native moderators for in-depth interviews.

Quantitative studies need localized research materials. 

Do any translations professionally, not via Google Translate. Even when there is a direct translation for a word, it may not necessarily have the same ‘meaning’ in each country.

The quality of the research suffers when conducting international research in English or with poor quality translations. For example, research shows that non-native speakers are much more likely to use extreme scores on rating scales.

That’s why we have a large network of experienced global partners, including local market researchers.

Transparent communication and reporting

Traditional B2B market research companies only bring in their directors at the start and end of the project – to sell it, then make a good impression at the debrief.

Between those two points, they often tend to minimize communication if they can help it, while they focus on other competing priorities.

• Not only does this often frustrate their clients during projects, working in this detached way means there’s more risk of the project going off-track.
• It also means that they’re less likely to deliver ‘risky’ research findings that may be accurate, but tough to swallow.

We were frustrated with that approach too – it’s one of the big reasons why we founded Adience. We’re an open book during every project, one of our four core principles.

Our clients are also very welcome to get involved in the research and analysis, if they want to help shape the recommendations for their colleagues and key internal stakeholders. We like to work as an extension of clients’ teams.

We’re also not afraid to tell it like it is, be honest if a product is unpopular etc. – but if that’s the case, we’ll always help clients work out what to do about it. We don’t hide the true insights in hundreds of generic data-dump slides either.

Post-research support

Linked to this, too often, market research reports don’t have much of a shelf life after the debrief.

The momentum drops because the agency forgets – or doesn’t care – that while the debrief may be the end of a research project, it’s the start of the next steps for clients.

When the research project is complete, we help clients turn insight into action. We engage other stakeholders, run extra workshops, create new materials, and so on.

Best practices for choosing between B2B research companies

#1 Look for relevant references and case studies

There should be testimonials on their website from satisfied B2B clients and perhaps some case studies of work in your sector.

If not, ask for these while you’re asking for a quote – they should be able to provide some privately.

Having a market research partner that understands your business and sector helps ensure you get relevant insights that sufficiently answer your research questions.

Also, check that they are in an independent directory for verified market research companies such as the MRS or ESOMAR.

#2 Aim for methodological flexibility

Some agencies – in particular, the larger ones – may have separate departments for each research methodology, quantitative vs qualitative research teams.

This approach has some drawbacks:

• On a project with several phases, they may pass you from one siloed team to another, so they’ll lose continuity and familiarity with your business.
• The teams may have separate targets and recommend the more profitable research services for your project, even if it’s not necessarily the best fit for your needs.

A more boutique agency should be more agile for B2B research projects, with the same team working on your project from start to finish without any handovers.

Our researchers are experts in both quant and qual. We are methodology-neutral and only recommend the approach that best fits clients’ specific research objectives – whether that’s to explore the buying process, track brand perceptions or anything else.

#3 Check that their pricing isn’t too good to be true

Crucially, if they promise to get 50 C-level decision-makers at large companies to participate in a study for an incentive of $10 each, that should ring alarm bells. It’s too good to be true and rather than a bargain, it’s a waste of money – in no world can you incentivize B2B decision-makers at big companies for $10 each.

Also bear in mind that the larger research companies may be more likely to charge a premium. Beyond recruitment costs, they may have set fees that they charge for more standardized projects.

And if you only have a limited budget, they’re less likely to offer any flexibility or alternate options to conduct research.

In contrast, all our research projects are bespoke. We can tailor the work to different budgets and we also offer flexible pricing e.g. on a modular basis.