We are proud to launch our first issue of ConsultaPanel News, an exclusive newsletter aimed at our panel members across Southern Africa. This quarterly electronic publication promises to be informative, containing news and case studies to show off the Panel’s abilities and expertise and giving credit to its members.

Typical to the ConsultaPanel philosophy, your valued opinion is our commodity, so please write to us at the following e-mail address: frontdesk@consultapanel.co.za. Give us your input, ideas and recommendations on how we can improve ConsultaPanel and ConsultaPanel News.

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ConsultaPanel embarks on 2010 with vigour and huge excitement, experiencing in our team a sense of passion, opportunity and pride.

We have reason to be proud; Consulta Research is celebrating 10 years of research excellence. One of Consulta’s biggest milestones is ConsultaPanel’s incredible growth … in a very short period of time ConsultaPanel has established itself as one of the leading market research online panels and – communities in South Africa. You, our panel members, have played a critical role towards this achievement; we acknowledge your valued support…

In sustaining our standards of excellence, ConsultaPanel remains committed to stay abreast with the latest developments and industry trends. We have adopted a strategic approach aimed at creating a three-tiered relationship between our panel members, our research clients and ConsultaPanel to achieve several strategic objectives.

We strive to create value for you, our panel members, by means of:

• Smooth, quick and easy interaction;
• Intelligent survey interaction;
• Interesting and applicable topics;
• Insight to business focus and thought; and
• Valuable reward and incentive.

We look forward to continued and productive online participation …

Warm regards,

Stephan du Plessis

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Motor Vehicle Industry Brand Survey - ConsultaPanel in First Gear

You may recall the recent Motor Vehicle Industry Brand survey which was launched towards the end of 2009…?

Some interesting facts relating to the survey were:

• It was the first ever study of this magnitude and dynamics for the motor industry in South Africa (and for the country);
• The survey secured more than 11 000 panel member registrations;
• Motor vehicle brand evaluations tallied more than 10 000; and
• Close to 40 different motor vehicle brands were evaluated by panel members.

Thank you to our panel members who participated in this survey; we appreciate your valued time and participation.

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No magic pixie dust exists to turn customers into confidants... Instead, companies must learn continuously, again and again. To build outstanding customer experiences, Forrester’s Bruce Temkin encourages organisations to adopt a process that he calls “LIRM”:

• Listen for the ‘Voice of the Customer’; customers express their needs, wants and frustrations in their own words.
• Interpret and translate customer feedback to ensure effective meaning for your business. Is an attitude widespread or only representative of a small group of customers? If the customer tells you that they want “a faster horse” (a la Henry Ford), how do you translate that into new product/service specifications?
• React to these customer needs and adapt your business accordingly. Most organisations seem to fail, not taking appropriate action on the feedback they gather. Put a process in place where customer feedback is used to drive ongoing process improvements.
• Monitor the results of the changes on an ongoing basis, through formal and automated processes.

Then start the process all over again!

Feedback produces lessons for continuous learning. It’s important to ask customers questions systematically after each interaction. Turn to customers for discussion of new initiatives, big and small; use them as your soundboard.

Acting on and showing what you have learned from your customers, encourages even better feedback.

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• A group of people with relevant backgrounds who agree to participate in surveys
  • Customers/Members/Consumers/Students
  • People with common interests
    
    
• Panel members are a guaranteed source of information because they agree in advance to participate in surveys and feedback efforts
  
  
• They agree to participate in surveys because they get something out of the relationship
  • Information/Influence/Early Access
  • Merchandise/Cash
    

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Motor Vehicle Industry Brand Survey:

Congratulations to Ann Horn who won R2500.00 for participating in the Motor Vehicle Industry Brand Survey launched in November 2009.

Welcome to new ‘winners’ (members)!

We have recently launched a recruitment campaign in order to expand our panel member base. Incentives were made available to new registered members by means of a lucky draw – five new members were each awarded with a R500.00 prize – congratulations to the following new members:

• Claire Ritson
• Sedikane Ketlele
• Louize Swart
• Bafedile Mafologele
• Darrell Beghin
  

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ConsultaPanel’s business philosophy puts strong emphasis on professional conduct, ethical business governance and effective stakeholder relations leading to the implementation of credible operational systems and processes. ConsultaPanel clearly values the participation and contribution of its panel members; by doing so we have implemented a reward system to remunerate participation.

Several processes have been put in place to enable electronic payments which, by virtue of electronic vouchers, are made available to panel members, giving special offers or discounts at popular retail and online outlets. More information on these processes to follow shortly …

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Remember, ConsultaPanel can provide your organisation with a turnkey market research solution… We are not only a specialist online panel and – community management service, we provide total research design and result analytics expertise.

Alternatively, your organisation may have a product or service that may be the perfect incentive to our Panel Members in support of survey campaigns … the opportunities for involvement are endless …

Contact Lee Luizinho at lee@consulta.co.za to discuss potential business synergies.

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