9 Things I Wish I Had Figured Out Sooner

2. Focus groups can make you stupid

I love observing focus groups. Sitting in that room behind the big one-way window, eating snacks, trying not to laugh too loud. It's great fun. And I love the things people say. It can be very enlightening.

There's just one big problem with focus groups. You find out what people say, not what they do in real life. You hear their opinions, spoken out loud in a social setting. That's not an accurate predictor of how they (or anyone) is going to respond in the marketplace. So if your focus groups loved your new brand or your exciting concept, that doesn't mean it's going sell in direct mail, e-mail or anywhere else. If you make major decisions solely on the input from focus groups, you are making serious mistakes that are likely to cost you big. It's the same with survey research. Use focus groups to generate ideas and get a sense for the ways people talk about your issues. If you want information you can really count on, test your ideas in real-life response situations.