Throughout the years, Mark Fearon, CPA, CGMA, and Kyle Stemple, CPA, CGMA, both principals at Rea & Associates, have discovered the power good research has over the bottom line. That’s why on this episode of unsuitable on Rea Radio, the duo talks about why business owners should consider adding the Research Call℠ to their arsenal of business development tools. “You want to be a student of your industry. There’s so much you can learn from your customers, from your suppliers, from your competitors.” The Research Call is a disciplined and structured process that helps clients learn about their industries’ ecosystems, grow their networks and sometimes even generate leads. It’s not a sales call, it’s not a cold call – it’s truly a market research call. Your clients are always looking to develop new products and add more value to their customer base, and those are the same things we want to offer them as clients. Conducting a Research Call is a great way to reach out to your customers to get their thoughts on a variety of topics and issues. In fact, it’s a great first step toward introducing a new product or service or improving a current one. Mark and Kyle offer a few tips to help business owners conduct their own Research Calls. • Be transparent. Start with the objective of your call, which is to learn more about a specific product or service. Remember, this is not a sales call, so you shouldn’t present it or treat it like one. • Learn about their network. What associations do they belong to? What conferences do they attend? • Learn which industry thought leaders they follow. What publications does this individual read? What podcasts do they listen to? Who runs their professional associations? • Learn about their ecosystem. Who are their competitors, suppliers, customers or potential customers? What issues are these business owners faced with? • Identify their idea of value. How does your client define value? Which characteristic do they consider to be most important – quality, service or price. • Don’t just talk to your current clients. Consider speaking with former customers or prospects. Don’t be afraid to learn what didn’t work – that is, after all, the only way to get better. • Make a lot of calls. The bottom line is, if you’re still learning something new on every call, then you haven’t done enough research. If you are a young professional or young business leader, then learning about your industry and your trade is vital. Why? Many businesses are currently run by Baby Boomers and those business leaders will transition into retirement over the next 7-10 years. The time to learn from those people is now. This is a great opportunity to tap into their knowledge to secure future success. So far, in conducting their own Research Calls, the number one challenge being faced by industry leaders is the quality and quantity of their talent pool. They can’t find and keep enough good employees. You can really make an impression when you learn what they expect from an ideal employee. Perhaps you will walk away with new ideas on how to fill the gap. Like what you’ve heard on this episode of the podcast? Visit the website at http://www.reacpa.com/podcast to learn more about the power of the Research Call and other great tips to help your business succeed. And don’t forget to subscribe to unsuitable on Rea Radio on iTunes and SoundCloud. You can also follow the conversation at #ReaRadio on social media. Research Call℠ permission to use by Crosley + Company.