Knowing When to Pivot During the Course of an Interview Allowed our Financial Services Industry Veterans to Uncover Influential Target Audiences

Financial Services

Knowing the industry and being able to pivot and probe in real-time allowed us to make important changes during the research. We were able to more effectively test, inform and refine ideas conceived of in a conference room so they reflected the real-world of not only marketing and selling software products but of building partnerships with new customers.

Understand.

A major financial services company wanted a deeper understanding of who their potential target audience would be for a new software product. They needed to understand their pain points, needs and what their decision-making process looks like. The client needed a partner to be able to see beyond the standard purchase journey research. They were looking for a partner that would translate their needs to a new audience.

Design.

This research was designed to be flexible and responsive to what we heard as the project unfolded. By leveraging our relationship with the recruiter, through regular communications with the client, and because of our commitment to having conversations versus typical interviews, we were able to find the purchase influencers. Once the audience was defined, we were able to dig deeper to reveal the influence model and the specifics of the software purchase process.

Execute.

Our intentionally iterative approach tested the client’s initial presumptions while refining and focusing both the recruiting and probing to get a complete and accurate picture. Specifically, an early pivot in recruiting directed the research to a particular role in the purchase process – the key influencer who is trusted and tasked by all sides to collate the information and make specific software purchase recommendations.

Analyze & Advise.

In the end, we delivered the client’s two must-haves – a detailed software purchase journey and specific personas for their target audience. More than that, however, our commitment to seeing beyond the nuts and bolts of standard purchase journeys revealed insights into meaningful ways to engage their customers in a partnership – ways to build marketing strategies for the long term.