Building a data culture and engaging sales channels.
Engaged since 2015, we have helped Ascom become a data-driven organization, building a customer and prospect database, providing sales reporting, creating sales planners to engage channel partners, supporting marketing campaigns, conducting primary research, managing sales territories and even developing data-driven white papers and webinars.

Helping to create a global marketing intelligence function.
This work has been so well received that it has expanded globally, including supporting development of a company-wide market intelligence function, sizing the market for various workplace-based communications products, and creating a global sales and marketing database to support product, segment, sales and marketing management.

Creating an integrated, data-driven plan to support construction of an important new community resource.
For decades, Buffalo’s East Side has faced significant economic and quality of life challenges, characterized by some of the highest poverty rates in the country, high rates of chronic illness, and poor access to healthcare. In addition, it accounts for a major share of the City’s unhoused population. A dedicated team of volunteers, working through St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy, was determined to bring needed resources to the neighborhood in the form of the Build Promise Center for Access, which will include free health, wellness, and educations services, as well as a shelter for unhoused men.

We worked closely with the Build Promise team to develop a data foundation – drawing on geodemographics and research surveys – that clearly quantified the case for need that was so apparent to these volunteers who had worked on the ground here for decades. We then led the team in creating a comprehensive business plan, which helped build consensus around remaining open issues, provided an operational road map, and demonstrated to donors and foundations the need for and viability of this critical community project. Leveraging insights from the plan, we created a number of presentation pieces. The plan and these supporting pieces have been integral in several major, successful fundraising pitches.

Identifying immediate six-figure cost savings opportunities.
Distributing free samples of contact lenses to optometrists is a critical marketing strategy for eye health companies.  With over 40,000 optometry practices in the US this requires a significant investment and creates opportunities for free trials not to be used as intended.

We created a database and supporting software to track the distribution of these samples, compare them to practice sales volumes, and identify situations where the program was potentially being taken advantage of, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.  This data resulted in significant changes to the sampling program and substantial expense reductions.

Providing insights to build customer relationships.
Given that we were already receiving regular feeds of sales data, we took the initiative to segment and stratify the customer base, identifying trends and opportunities for customer retention and growth – information that was then provided to sales and marketing to fine tune their strategies.

Staying at the forefront of medical technology.
With over 70 percent share of the US hospital pillow speaker market, Curbell Medical is always seeking new ways to improve patient safety and experience. .When they were looking for new approaches to test product concepts, we worked with their team to develop a fast, efficient and cost-effective quantitative and qualitative hybrid research program that gained insightful feedback from potential users and influencers. These insights have supported  important refinements in two product concepts that will serve the needs of hospital and long-term care patients.

Gauging the pandemic’s impact on sales and service models.
It would be difficult to find a more satisfied business-to-business customer base than Curbelll Plastics’, but as the pandemic reduced opportunities for face-to-face contact with their valued customers, management became concerned that these changes could impact customer relationships.  In addition, management wanted to proactively look ahead to how sales and service models might change as customers became accustomed to new ways of doing business.

Our interviews, in partnership with CCRG and JRB Insight, found that Curbell’s customer-focused culture transcended these pandemic-driven changes in customer contact practices, and that the company continued to delight its customers with a high-touch consultative sales model that it is equally capable of delivering in-person or remotely.  While some changes are expected as the business world further emerges from the pandemic, Curbell now has an insight-driven roadmap to ensure that its customers continue to receive the highest level of service.

Technologists have feelings too.
When exploring software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings, EarthLink management was concerned that Chief Information and Technology Officers would see outsourcing to the cloud as a threat.  In addition, the proposed messaging for this offering was very technical and jargon-filled. 

Our depth interviews found that SaaS wasn’t seen as a threat at all, and in fact it was perceived as having the potential to enable technology leaders to do what they really wanted – stop spending their time “putting out fires” so that they could play more of a strategic role in the direction of their businesses.  Almost unanimously, they felt left out of their companies’ big decisions, and wanted more than anything to have a seat at the table when these decisions were being made.

This insight enabled EarthLink to develop a differentiated  positioning for SaaS that was centered around the emotional needs of their potential customers, instead of a more traditional approach focused on technology bells and whistles.

Connecting with underserved populations.
Evans Bank made a major commitment to Buffalo’s inner city through its new Westminster Commons branch. The Bank wanted to better understand the needs of this community and needed a market research solution that would effectively reach low-income residents who are typically overlooked by many market research methodologies.  Our solution was to engage a well-regarded political pollster, Zeplowitz and Associates, which has deep experience reaching into communities with diverse economic and racial backgrounds.  The result was a detailed look at the needs and priorities of neighborhood residents, enabling Evans to hit the ground running with targeted solutions once the branch opened.

Tracking brand performance.
The Evans Marketing team is very conscious of marketing ROI, and we worked with them to develop several Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that monitor the strength of their brand and the effectiveness of their advertising.  These KPIs are tracked in ongoing market and customer surveys, enabling the Bank to better target its messaging and media spend.

Supporting a Culture of Excellence
First Citizens Institutional Trust provides retirement plans, institutional investing and custodial services,  Their team consistently receives extraordinarily high satisfaction and net promoter ratings from their clients.

A key reason is that they regularly seek out client feedback.  For over a decade we have supported Institutional Trust with their client satisfaction surveys, reaching a busy audience of business and nonprofit leaders with a combination of online and postal mail surveys that make it convenient to respond.  This approach maximizes response and delivers insights that the First Citizens team as they deliver consistently excellent service.

Data-Driven Bank Marketing
Since 2007 we have helped First County Bank drive more value from their customer database by tracking the ROI of marketing campaigns, identifying cross-selling opportunities, supporting campaigns, implementing surveys that provide insight into customer needs while also generating sales leads, and conducting primary research with customers, prospects and employees.  These efforts have supported profitable marketing campaigns and have enabled the Bank to direct their marketing resources to the highest ROI activities.

Growing customer relationships through needs-based marketing.
Working with our partners, The Verdi Group, we developed and launched a needs-based marketing program that drew survey responses from over nine thousand Five Star customers.  This survey data on individual customer needs, priorities and life events was delivered to the sales force for follow-up.  The Bank’s analysis revealed a that this program delivered significant increase in sales when compared to a control group.

Helping a Brilliant Idea Find New Life
When patients need to be medically isolated for transport (because they are contagious, or to protect them from hazardous biological or chemical aerosols) they are placed in portable, bag-like plastic enclosures that are only accessible to caregivers through stationary glove ports.  Isolation Sciences developed a continuous access port that enables these gloves to move freely around the enclosure while maintaining full isolation of the patient

Our research of hospital and medical transport managers revealed that while this concept was appreciated, the containment enclosures were rarely used, and abundant supplies were already stocked in inventory.  This meant that the continuous glove port was a significant enhancement to a product that, unfortunately, was seldom purchased (although this may have changed post-pandemic).  As a result, Isolation Sciences changed their strategy, adapting their glove ports to laboratory fume hoods where they improved laboratory safety and enabled increases in fume hood energy efficiency of up to 90 percent.

Improving visitor experience and growing sales.
Initially hired to create a marketing plan for this historic landmark in East Aurora, NY, it became clear that visitor experience needed to be an integral part of the plan.

We surveyed members, interviewed staff and community leaders, evaluated media options and ultimately recommended a cost-effective plan that both enhanced guest experience and created a more marketable asset.  Recognizing that the Campus’s unique Copper Shop gift shop was its highest potential revenue opportunity, we recommended and developed a television campaign that immediately resulted in over a 40 percent increase in sales.

Creating a targeted nonprofit development strategy.
SilverSource is a vital resource for many senior citizens in Fairfield County, CT, especially those with lower incomes.

Drawing on a combination of donor surveys, market surveys, donor data analysis and an overlay of gedemographic segmentation data, we helped SIlverSource identify key messaging points that are likely to resonate with donors, identified high-potential donor segments within their database and in the local population, provided insights into donor opinions, concerns, priorities and reasons for providing support; and identified several donors who were willing to make an immediate contribution.

“This project delivered  the highest return on investment  of any research program we have ever done”
This was a direct quote from a St. John’s executive after we conducted an analysis of their stakeholder database to identify prospects for their upscale independent living community, while at the same time identifying high potential donors within their database.

Estimating the economic impact of expansion.
The Stamford Museum is a unique asset to Fairfield County, CT., combining an art museum, observatory, hiking trails, a working farm, educational programming and a preschool.  In seeking funding for a new building, they needed to demonstrate to government leaders and local foundations the positive impact this planned farmhouse addition would have on the local economy.

Using the state-of-the-art Implan system, we were able to estimate the short-term impact the project would generate for building materials purchases and construction employment, and the longer-term direct impacts on employment at the Stamford Museum and indirect impacts on other local employers who would benefit from this complementary economic activity.  Ultimately the Stamford Museum received funding to add its first new building in 50 years.

Measuring visitor experience at one of the nation’s largest state fairs.
Each summer over a million people come to Syracuse, New York to enjoy the attractions at the New York State Fair. To ensure they are always providing a positive experience, The Fair historically conducted annual, detailed exit interviews with hundreds of guests. 

When they decided to change research providers, we were brought in with our partner CCRG to quickly pick up where the program left off, reverse-engineering a research campaign that The Fair had counted on for years to understand current performance and long-term trends. The transition was seamless and through careful analysis of past programs we were able to provide continuity so that Fair leadership knew exactly how performance was trending year-over-year.