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Written by Jane John.

The ‘F' in FUMSI stands for ‘Find'. But how can you find if you don't know what you are looking for? As with anything else in life, the more clearly you can envision, describe, feel and imagine exactly what you are looking for, the more easily you will be able to find it - not to mention perhaps recognise a potential answer already in front of you, in your office, or in another department within your organisation.

The Synergy General Session at the June 2007 Special Libraries Association (SLA) conference (Denver, CO), focused on the future of the information profession. In the forum with top industry thinkers, Stephen Abram, now SLA President, suggested that librarians need to stop thinking of Google and other search services as competition. He suggested that while search engines may improve the volume of results, information professionals can improve the quality of the question. That thought launched me on an effort to work more closely with my clients on their initial questions.

What is the question?

A key step in matching your ‘search' with your ‘find' is asking the right question at the start of the process. Competitive Intelligence professionals may call this ‘requirements' or key intelligence topics. Corporate library reference staff may call it the reference interview. An independent information professional (IIP) doing a large project may call it project scoping. The bottom line is the same - what is the question?

From my experience working with companies to commercialise new technologies, I have developed a series of elements to cover in client conversations. Each element drives back to the same goal - to enable me to envision, describe and feel exactly what will satisfy the client's needs. I want to spend as little time as possible answering the wrong questions and as much time as possible answering the right questions for each client. The clearer the initial questions, the better the research result.  

My clients are early stage technology companies and larger firms doing new product development. I create Market Views on niche market segments that are not traditionally covered in large off-the-shelf market reports. A mid-sized project takes around 1-2 weeks to complete and comprises research in databases or print resources, with some telephone research for confirmation and depth.

Here are eight tips I have learned to help me work with each client to be sure that we both ask the right questions.

Number 1: The goal

The overriding approach to being sure the client is asking the right questions - that you and your client are on the same page - is to focus on the client's goal. It's well known that clients tailor their questions to what they think can be answered, not what they really want. On the flip side, some clients assume it's easy to find information that is generally not available. Start with the client's research goal.

Number 2: The next decision

Most of my clients are business people. They seek research to help make a better business decision - ‘is this new product idea worth investing in?' or ‘what company can I partner with for broader distribution?' Business people have a saying that you are only as good as your last decision - each decision that a business makes, especially an early stage company, is critical. The wrong decision can put them out of business. So I might ask: ‘What is the next business decision you must make and how will you use this information to make it?' Or try: ‘If I come back to you with a 20-word answer to your question will that help you nail the decision you need to make?' In many cases, a 20-word answer is indeed what the busy manager would like. They just want ‘the answer'. Focusing on their next business decision will help them frame ‘the question'.

Number 3: The repeat

Find a way to repeat the question back to the client as if it is a rough pencil sketch, then hand them the pencil to adjust the outline or add shading. I might start: ‘Do I understand correctly that your question is "what is the worldwide market size for automotive paints?''' Give the client an unhurried chance to alter the sketch. Upon reflection, the client may determine that  a little more detail is needed here, and he can live with a little less there. Perhaps it really does need to find some forecasts for 5-10 years out since it is deciding whether to modify its entire production method. But it only needs North American market size, and is really only interested in a certain type of automotive paint.

Number 4: Samples

Many people don't know what they want but, like other kinds of shopping or exploration, they'll recognise it when they see it. Offer samples that help them visualise and imagine what they will get. You cannot show work done for other clients, but you can describe alternative research options - enough for them to realise they can choose between a list of citations, a do-it-yourself tutorial, a PowerPoint summary, a comparison chart, or a 50-page analysis.

In a variation on the ‘samples' approach, I recently worked with a client team to frame its question and brought its attention to a website that was quite detailed in its area of interest. I showed them that the website actually contained the answer to the question it had posed, but I also suspected it was not really what it wanted. Sure enough, once it saw the website, it was able to frame its own question with more precision.

Number 5: Level of detail

Encourage clients to think about the level of detail they need to move forward. They won't need global food sales data to open a sandwich shop. For most topics, determine if statistics need to be global, regional, or local. Would a price range be adequate instead of a specific price? Which indicators would suffice? While worldwide market size on wind energy may provide global context, the more useful question for your client might be ‘how many turbines have been sold to the state of California in the last three years?' or ‘which two companies sell the most into Germany?'

Number 6: The client's client

In some cases, the information professional can learn about the client's client in order to better advise what the questions should be. For example, I work with some technology innovators who are applying for a specific type of research funding. From past experience, I know some of the market and business data the funders will be looking for in the application. You may work for clients seeking venture capital, where a good understanding of what VCs look for will help you advise your client about the questions they should seek to answer. Or you may be doing research for a junior person in a company and you can advise him/her about questions that senior supervisors want answered.

With my grant applicants, I now use a worksheet with check-off boxes they can use to evaluate what they already know. Across a series of data points that I know from experience they will have to address in their application, I ask my client to check off one of three boxes:   

• ‘No thanks, I already have good detail in this area'.
• ‘Hmm, I have a general idea, but could use more detail'.
• ‘This is a top priority - I could use stronger data from top sources'.

Their answers help us determine together where to focus my research efforts.

Number 7: The opposite

Offering examples of what the client might not want may help them articulate more clearly what they do want. This approach can be tricky but effective. For example:

Client: ‘I need to know everything there is about XYZ products'.

Researcher: ‘Do you mean you'd like a list of all the companies globally that produce XYZs, along with product samples and prices? We could also obtain historical market size and estimates out to 5 years. And we could do telephone research to learn more about distribution and trends. That will be a $40,000 project'.

Client: ‘I probably just need to know the companies in my region and their top three product lines. If you could make a chart with prices from their website and technical specifications from product data sheets, that would be adequate for the decision I need to make next week'.

Researcher: ‘I see. Here is the kind of chart I could produce. The sources I propose to use are... What you will get is.... And the price range will be...'.

Number 8: Midway corrections

It's useful to offer clients a chance to refine their questions at various points along the research path. The trick is to avoid ‘scope creep'. I find it useful to offer realistic alternatives about how to use the rest of my time in the project and to suggest that any truly new directions could be a follow-on project. When talking with clients at midway points, I try to have specific suggestions in mind about avenues of exploration we can close off, as well as refinements we can pursue.

Summary

As the volume of information available from the desktop increases and user-oriented tools proliferate, it may become easier for end-users to answer their own well defined questions. The scoping phase - helping clients to improve the quality of each question they ask - is increasingly important for information professionals.

I used to start projects with a one-page letter of agreement stating the research problem and finish by delivering a 20-page report. Then I asked myself - what would my business look like if I reversed the focus and worked with the client to develop a 20-page statement of his/her goal, and returned a one-page set of answers? 

At first this seemed extreme, but it turns out that one-page summaries are the part of my report that most of my clients like best. While I haven't yet started writing 20-pages of research goals, I do think the most productive part of my research process now is spent working with each client in multiple ways to frame their questions.    

Jane John is owner and principal researcher at On Point Research, a company that produces customised Market Views for technology firms seeking to commercialise new products and services. Clients range from high tech start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Ms. John has a Masters in Library and Information Science from Denver University, Denver CO, and twenty-five years of research experience. She is Immediate Past President of the Association of Independent Information Professionals, and a member of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals and the Special Libraries Association.

She can be reached at On Point Research, Brunswick ME 04011, USA.

Tel: +1 207-373-1755

Email: jjohn@onpointresearch.com

Website: www.onpointresearch.com

Other related FUMSI stories and links:

Introduction to Federated Search: http://web.fumsi.com/go/article/manage/3345

Asia Pacific Region: Consumer Markets and Industries - Part I: http://web.fumsi.com/go/article/find/3325

Middle East and North Africa Research Resources: http://web.fumsi.com/go/report/find/970

UK Government Information on the Internet: http://web.fumsi.com/go/article/find/2776

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