Go To Market
Drawing on 15 years of analyst experience, and a 15+ year pre-telecom career as an independent market research consultant, JAA brings a unique set of capabilities for any size of business needing GTM support in the fast-moving communications and collaboration space. Market research is the foundation of a successful GTM strategy, and JAA is highly adept at identifying the right type of custom research to support your objectives, timeline and budget.
This section outlines six classic use cases for market research where JAA’s expertise can help drive GTM strategies. To better understand where and how these capabilities add value, please review our Market Research FAQs and Common Myths.
End User Research
Understanding the needs of end users is critical for adopting any new technology. They may not be the economic buyers, but the user experience is now a major value driver, and this is where market research plays a key role. JAA helps clients by conducting both quantitative and qualitative studies that may or may not identify the sponsor. Quantitative research is survey-based, and would be used when various attributes need to be accurately measured and compared. By contrast, qualitative research yields deeper insights, focusing more on the why than the what.
Market Opportunity Studies
This form of custom research is done for clients looking to assess the potential for a defined opportunity. Whether the market is established or emerging, key success factors must be identified and evaluated, using a mix of both primary and secondary research. JAA can conduct both high level market scans for initial evaluation, as well as comprehensive studies that break down the full value chain, including the competitive landscape, technology trends, industry trends, routes to market, buying criteria, product lifecycle, barriers to entry/adoption and emerging opportunities.
Market Entry Strategy
For clients conducting an opportunity study, this would be a natural extension, as it provides the rationale for the overall strategy. JAA can also work with clients solely on strategy development, whether entering a new region/country, introducing a new offering to existing customers, or entering a new line of business altogether. The client may have existing information sources for JAA to draw upon for strategy development, but JAA can also undertake a customized research process that draws insights from the client’s management team, competitors, partners, channels and prospective customers.
Value Proposition Development
Whether they are launching a new offering or fine-tuning an existing solution, technology companies often do a poor job of articulating the value proposition. For this to resonate with both decision makers and end users, a clearly-defined need must be identified along with how their offering will address it. JAA helps clients here in two distinct ways, both of which are critical for a winning value proposition. First is gaining an understanding of the needs and pain points; then once the value proposition has been developed, JAA works with client to communicate it in the right way and to the right audience.
Focus Groups
This offering is a specific market research capability rather than a type of GTM deliverable. JAA has been a market research practitioner for 30+ years, and maintains a paid listing in the Green Book, the leading buyer’s guide for the North American market research industry. The combination of this qualitative research expertise along with a deep involvement in the communications technology makes JAA unique, and helps clients gain insights they could not get anywhere else. Ideal focus group scenarios include evaluating new concepts, blind comparisons against competitors, perceptions of market leaders, price/value tradeoffs, technology adoption drivers and factors for switching to competitors.
Brand Positioning Studies
This type of research provides an objective analysis of how the client’s brand is perceived in the marketplace either on its own, or relative to select competitors. Depending on the objective, this research can be done with existing customers, prospects and even ex-customers. Similarly, quantitative research can be done to establish benchmark metrics that can be updated over time, whereas qualitative research can be used to assess the emotional drivers that determine how people feel about the brand.