In the last installment of this series, I talked a bit about how I wanted to change this up.  Instead of pretending that we were going to be working on some imaginary Congressional race in Missouri, which was just impossible to simulate, we were going to simulate doing a project for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.   Since their donor base and primary sources of revenue come from senior citizens and baby boomers, they want to know what these people think of recent inductions into the Hall of Fame, what they think of recent exhibits and what directions that they think that Hall should explore.

There's more.

So, we know what they want us to find out. Great. How do we implement this?   The first step is to learn the subject matter.  For better or for worse, polling isn't just about numbers.  These numbers represent real things that exist in the world, and you have to be familiar with them. More importantly, you will not be able to create the questionnaire if you don't understand the subject matter.  So, grin and bear it.  You're going to have to do a little research on your own.   The first step: know your client.

I cannot repeat this too many times, but I'll only do it once more. The first step: know your client.

When you are doing research for someone, they are entrusting you to discover what they need to accomplish their goals. It's an incredible responsibility, and not one that you should take lightly.  In order to understand their needs, you have to understand them.  You have to understand their organizational mission, their history, their resources in addition to the parameters of your specific project.  Unless you know your client, all the time and resources you put into it will be for naught.

So, how do you come to know your client? The first step is to visit their website and see what they say about themselves. If you want to understand your client, you should see how they understand themselves, and how they present themselves to their customers.  Take any information you can get - press kits, FAQ's, mission statements, etc.  At this point, you're going to want to get a big, big D-ring binder, lots of highlighters and some dividers.  Do you feel like you're in eighth grade again yet?

In addition to seeing what they say about themselves, you're going to want to see what the media say about them.  How is their press coverage?  Do they have any, for that matter?   You're also going to want to do the same for their rivals and enemies. Lexis-Nexis access will make your life much easier, but you can also use Google News.

So, as an exercise, see what you can find out, and we'll go from there next week.

DD