Ask the family
If you can’t afford to spend any money on research, doing a little yourself is better than not doing any at all. Identify the sorts of people in your target market and ask them what they think about your service, fees, literature – anything you like. Ask family, friends, ex-colleagues, local businesses, Business Links – anyone you can think of. Most people like to air their views and the most unlikely people may just give you invaluable feedback or ideas. You might also find that it is an excellent way of generating business. One point though, you should listen to what they say even if you don't agree! DIY research won’t be as good as professional research, but it will be better than none at all.

Pop the question
Conducting regular research amongst current and prospective clients has always been a first principle of good marketing practice. The advent of online survey templates makes this process incredibly easy. There is now absolutely no excuse for failing to research opinions and buying practices regularly amongst your target market.

It’s a mystery
One way to ensure that you are providing your customers with an excellent level of service is to ‘live the customer experience’ for yourself. Call up your own firm (or get a friend or family member to do it for you) and see whether you are happy with the way your call is handled.

It pays to plan
Even if you’ve never seen a marketing plan or done one before, try putting one together – even it’s just a few bullet points. The process of sitting down and trying to plan what marketing you’d like to do over the next 12 months is extremely valuable. It will help you to focus on who your target markets are and how much money to put aside for marketing.

The SWOT team
Other business planning techniques may come and go but the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis remains an ever-popular method for focusing thought. When developing a SWOT analysis, concentrate on the top 3-4 items in each category. Remember to match strengths and opportunities against weaknesses and threats.

A bit of forward thinking
Preparing for the future requires creative thinking. When conducting forecasting or scenario planning, it’s often a good idea to open the session to non-Board members. Research shows that an individual with more background information about an industry does not necessarily have a greater predictive ability, only greater confidence that they are right. Furthermore, younger members of staff are often better at thinking creatively about the future.

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