Expensive customer guesswork – How valuable are insights from surveys?

Do you feel confident about your market research? Probably not. Because you’ve learned one thing over and over again: you spend a lot of money to find out whether your brand, your product, and your measures are heading in the right direction, everything looks good, and then the campaign or new product flops miserably. Then you ask yourself: what went wrong? Or your boss asks you that. Even worse. 

If this sounds familiar, you’ve come to the right place. My last videos were about WHY it has become so important to really understand your customers—and I’m not the only one saying this. Because the old cookie tracking system is crumbling, because data is often inaccurate, because credibility is more important than ever.

Starting today, my videos are going one step further: The WHY is still important, of course, but the focus is on the HOW. 

We’ll start with HOW you decipher the true needs and buying motives – which are often hidden beneath the surface. And we’ll break that down: How do we obtain valid qualitative insights through market research? That’s what today is all about. And then: How do we use psychographics instead of demographics to understand customers? That’s my favorite topic.

Then: How you analyze what customers really do – beyond what they say. This is the topic of behavioral data, which is like reading your customers’ digital body language, and it’s not that easy.

And finally: how you build actionable target group models from all these insights. You could call these actionable archetypes, and they go far beyond the standard personas. I’m already looking forward to it.

So, today we’ll start with the basics: the customer survey. But not just any old survey! We’ll look at why traditional surveys often only scratch the surface and which qualitative methods can help you really dig deep. Because yes, you cansurvey customers – if you know how!

So why do customers often – unconsciously – not tell us the whole truth in surveys? Let’s briefly recall Daniel Kahneman: Our brain has two systems. System 1: fast, intuitive, emotional – this is where 95% of our decisions are made. System 2: slow, rational, deliberative – and we often only use this to justify the decisions made by System 1 – after the fact. So when you ask for rational reasons in a survey, you often only get the sugar-coated surface, the justification, not the real driver!

Add to that the social desirability bias: Who likes to admit that they buy for status reasons or ignore environmental aspects?

The consequence? You invest budgets based on data that is, at best, incomplete and, at worst, misleading. You develop products that miss the mark, and your messages fall flat. That’s not marketing, that’s expensive guesswork!

But there is a way out. A way that goes deeper. A way to gain the insight into human nature that we need to be successful today. It’s about rediscovering qualitative methods and using them correctly – the art of really listening and observing. The path of the customer expert, if you will.

The three most important tools for this are: 
First: In-depth interviews: These are not standardized questionnaires, but intensive one-on-one conversations. They are ideal for understanding complex decisions, exploring sensitive topics, or tracing the individual customer journey. This is where trust is built and where you get the unvarnished truth – if you ask the right questions!

Second: Ethnographic observation: Watch how customers really use your product! In the store, at home, at work – or digitally, in forums and social media groups, which is called netnography. You’ll discover unconscious routines, real pain points, and workarounds that no one would tell you about in an interview. 

Third: Focus groups (well-done ones) Yes, if we’ve worked together before: I always throw focus group insights straight in the trash. Because EVERYTHING I’ve seen so far has been poorly done. Poorly recruited, poorly moderated. But I admit it’s difficult. Well done focus groups, on the other hand, are valuable for testing initial reactions to concepts, understanding the language of the target group, or uncovering group dynamics. But they can never replace the insights gained from an in-depth interview.

However, the key lies not only in the method, but also in the questioning technique. Because there’s one thing you have to do. You have to get beneath the surface of the rational. And here’s how you can do that:

Firstly, through open-ended questions: This is well known. So no yes/no questions, but why? How? What does that mean to you? The goal is to get the interviewee to think and talk.

A more advanced method is the laddering technique. You keep asking ‘Why is that important to you, what do you get out of it?’ and thus climb from product features to the customer’s fundamental values. For example: “Why is it important to you to shop at organic markets? What do you get out of buying organic products from the region? Why is it important to you to feel connected to the region? Why do you want to preserve local jobs?” Only then will you understand the true motivation, which in this case has nothing to do with health or environmental protection.

And if direct questions don’t help, use projective techniques. Let customers complete sentences – “People who buy brand Y are…” – or interpret images, or describe your brand as a person. It’s always fascinating to see the unconscious associations and emotions that come out – invaluable insight for your strategic positioning!

And here’s something else for the pros: don’t just listen to the words, pay attention to body language, to nonverbal cues. Is someone hesitating? Do their facial expressions contradict what they’re saying? Of course, you shouldn’t overinterpret these things. But when an experienced interviewer notices inconsistent behavior like this, that’s when things get interesting, when they need to dig deeper and get to the heart of the matter.

So, let’s assume you’ve gathered a lot of exciting insights. But how do you turn them into valid patterns? There’s a lot that can go wrong here. Just pick out a few quotes, and end up with the ones that please the client? That won’t work. 

You need validity and reliability by having two people code the data and then comparing their results. That’s the only way to ensure your conclusions are truly sound.

And you need rigor. That means scientific thoroughness through systematic analysis when transcribing and coding to structure data—either manually or with software such as MAXQDA. And through thematic analysis, by identifying recurring themes, patterns, and contradictions throughout the material.

As you can see, it’s not that simple. And that’s a good thing. Because as we know, people make decisions based on emotions, and we need to understand and address this emotional level. The methods for doing this are getting better and better. There is more digital qualitative research, there are agile qualitative sprints – i.e., fast, iterative cycles – all with a strong focus on emotions and empathy.

Once you have these deep, valid insights, THEN you can start building truly effective strategies: positioning tailored to your customers, a brand to fall in love with, messages that sell, customer journeys without friction, and a data strategy based on trust.

This is the path of the customer expert: from guessing to knowing. This is the foundation for your marketing turnaround. It takes courage. Courage to dig deeper. Courage to do things differently. But the results—loyal customers, greater efficiency, sustainable growth—are worth it.

Are you ready to listen to your gut feeling? Do you want to REALLY understand your customers? I can help you. My name is Christian Jourdant, and I’ll take care of your marketing turnaround. See you soon!

(Subtitles available in English and Spanish)