You can use an outside firm or do it yourself, but the outside firm is likely to get better quality soft data. I find a great source of soft data is former employees after clearing the fact that they are not legally restrained. 95% of them will be free to talk to you. Another source is field service people. You also need to learn how to properly interview customers. There are approaches and a set of questions you can ask that will lower the possibility of them lying to you. If you want to do it yourself, I suggest you go the web and find several books on it -they are available.
. (151-508) .I've had good success with focus groups. If you have a good facilitator, the right people there, and ask good questions you'll get real quality data. The quality is built-in if the questions are related to the end results you are seeking.
. (151-509) .I totally agree. Be aware that focus groups can be quite expensive, but they are good.
. (151-510) .Remember the relevance of the data may not be what you planned, but what the market really thinks. There are often surprises.
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