In today’s energy markets, consumers have many choices and companies have difficulty differentiating themselves. This makes securing new customers a slow process and focus on customer retention a must. Understanding customer expectations for service and then maintaining high service quality is often key to success in the marketplace.

Our work for organizations in energy services is typically focused on:

• Segmenting customers to determine desirability
  
• Understanding service expectations and measuring service quality
  
• Developing consumer friendly on-line services
  
• Understanding the local competitive market including perceptions of competitors and consumer preferences
  
• Understanding current customer preferences and behaviors (mining current customer base)

Market Decisions has developed standard telephone survey instruments that we customize for specific organizations. This allows us to provide complex and sophisticated surveys very cost effectively.

We use advanced statistical methods including cluster analysis to segment customers into groups to properly tailor marketing programs. In fact, Market Decisions has been using psychographics (segmenting customers by attitudes, beliefs, interests, and values) to profile groups of customers since the late 1980’s. An example of this approach can be seen in Market Decisions’ report, The People of Maine, where segmentation was used to help leaders understand the basis for public opinion on various issues.

Our use of a specially designed survey instrument and a sophisticated analytical tool called perceptual mapping with multidimensional scaling allows clients to visually see the competitive map as consumers see it. In this approach, respondents make comparisons, evaluating similarities and differences in a series of paired questions. The responses are then mapped and the position of competitors are descriptive of perceived differences. For an example of such a map, click here.

We typically use qualitative research including focus groups after a telephone survey to provide further insights and to test communication or product and service offerings. Our use of advanced projective techniques and tools digs deeper than typical groups to provide breakthrough insights.

Web site usability testing has become more common as clients move from first or second generation sites to sites that are designed from the beginning with customers in mind.

Internet surveys can be used to develop a relationship with key customers seeking feedback on services and offerings.

The Maine Survey, our quarterly shared subscriber telephone survey, allows clients to field proprietary and confidential questions at a fraction of the cost of a custom survey. Financial institutions can use this tool to understand market position or to track advertising awareness.