I want to preface this blog with a fact all of us Researchers know well: Bad news is good data.
However, sometimes, Clients don’t necessarily want to hear the bad news. There’s an art to ensuring that you’re able to present the bad news findings in a way that helps your Client improve.
Firstly, as we say when we teach moderating: go with good news first. Just like you ask for the good news about an idea or product first, you present the positive things first – even if there aren’t that many. What this might look like is finding the slimmest appeal – whether they like the idea of what the product could do even if they don’t believe it will.
Secondly, utilize heavily Respondent quotations. They will actively demonstrate the key aspects of what didn’t work to your Client without you having to be the one to tell the Client their baby is ugly.
Thirdly, pick the top three themes among the “bad news” to focus on. Don’t give them a long list of reasons their product or idea sucks in the eyes of the Respondents. Group things together and highlight those three items, instead.
Finally, during the session, the Moderator probably got ways to improve the idea or product. Close the delivery by highlighting the ways the idea can be improved. Reiterate some of the things it did well and combine it with the improvements in a way that suggests “here’s what they liked and how to utilize these improvements” to find success among Respondents.
Essentially, it’s extremely important for Clients to learn their ideas or products are not appealing to consumers before they make a poor business decision. It’s our job to communicate those key insights in a digestible and tactful way.
Written by: Brittany Mohammed