Market Research for Boutique Consulting Practice
- Market Research
- Less than $10,000
- Aug. - Oct. 2020
- Quality
- 1.0
- Schedule
- 1.0
- Cost
- 1.0
- Willing to Refer
- n/a
“Allied Market Research kept making promises they couldn’t deliver on.”
- Other Industry
- Panama
- 1-10 Employees
- Phone Interview
- Verified
Allied Market Research was tasked with providing market research for a boutique consulting practice. They were responsible for delivering a report on a niche tire industry for the Brazilian market.
After jumping straight into the engagement without being offered a trial, the partner was dissatisfied with the quality of the delivered report. Allied Market Research’s report was inaccurate and their team didn’t communicate or follow through on promises. No reimbursement has been made thus far.
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
BACKGROUND
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the owner of a boutique consulting practice. I consult for mid-sized multinational companies which are companies with $1 billion–$5 billion in invoices. I also consult for large family businesses which include family groups that own companies in excess of $100 million–$500 million. In my work, I help them with the strategy and direction of their business as well as what they plan to do from the human and strategy standpoints.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address with Allied Market Research?
Most of my clients come from the consumer product industry. Most of the time, I have a membership with an international market research organization. They have a good database of consumer product goods but don’t have anything on the tire industry.
I started researching databases and companies that would provide reports in this category which is not a consumer product. Even if it is a little consumer product, it’s on the border between consumer products and commodities just because the price is really cheap and it behaves like a commodity.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement?
Allied Market Research was tasked to handle market research for that niche. The engagement didn’t start with a 14-day trial. From the beginning, they moved ahead and started pressuring me to buy the report I wanted. I wanted a report for the Brazilian market, along with the membership to get into all the libraries.
It sounded like a great deal, but I never really saw anything. They sent samples through email. The samples were 100 pages long, but I noticed that out of all those pages, I only needed information like data, exchange rates, and sources or references. The reports had no credentials. I couldn’t just accept data based on something they told me. I need to know how they got that data. Allied Market Research expressed that they don’t share those details in the sample, but they had the information.
I never went into the library and never got the 14-day trial period. I went ahead and bought the $8,000 reports that included the library. It took them about three weeks to get my user information set up. I’m a consultant but am working for a family company that distributes tires. They were the ones who made the purchase directly, even though I managed everything.
We paid with a credit card and it took three weeks for us to have access. When I was finally able to access the library, it turned out to be really poor. I could see there were two reports for Hankook tires, and even if it was global, it would have some analysis that would be useful. When I clicked on the report, it wasn’t for Hankook tires, it was for other companies. It wasn’t even cataloged correctly. That was the first feeling of disappointment.
I couldn’t download everything. I could see everything on the webpage, but if I downloaded it, it took away the credits they have given me. I went and browsed through them and it wasn’t good. Allied Market Research didn’t include sources or references. They put the source as AMR Specialized Research but that’s not a source. That isn’t quoting a database, and it isn’t quoting a public source. I went back to them and let them know I didn’t see the report I was interested in. When I finally got the report, it was really bad and wrong.
Just for perspective, in most of Latin America, except for maybe the very south part of Argentina and Chile, we don’t have snow, but they had 7–8 pages of tires for snow season. We don’t have snow season and don’t need snow tires. I inferred that Allied Market Research basically takes the global skeleton and then fills it with whatever information. I was really clear on what information I was looking for and what I wanted to do. They promised they’d deliver it in a two-to-three-week timeframe. Two months passed, and I had nothing. I had to start spending money on my own to go and find the databases and research in Brazil.
When I cross-checked everything against the actual information I received from companies and the government, everything in the report was wrong. I went back and scheduled a call with Allied Market Research and told them their library wasn’t working for me at all and that the report they sent was wrong. I went on each page, one by one, and proved to them that there were at least 40 pages in those 100 pages that were just filler pages. Allied Market Research didn’t say anything.
I showed them the whole thing on snow season tires. After that, the individual who was selling me the product they were really sorry. He recorded the phone call and showed it to his seniors, and they were willing to reimburse me fully due to the extenuating circumstances because they were ashamed that it wasn’t working.
That happened in October 2020. Since then, I haven’t received anything but excuses. Allied Market Research asked me for my bank statement which I sent to them, and to-date, I haven’t received any reimbursement. I was promised a call from the seniors, and I’ve never talked to anyone except for the one individual. I offered to give them basic training on how to do research so they don’t do this anymore, but they haven’t taken me up on it.
What is the team composition?
I had one main contact and talked to two research analysts on a Zoom call once. I’ve looked and haven’t been able to find an individual who holds himself or herself accountable for this company.
How did you come to work with Allied Market Research?
After looking into several sites on the web, Allied Market Research was the one that promised to give more knowledge and more insight into having analysis. The other companies offered broad data and zero that was focused in Latin America, which is generally the case. There is usually really low information available. Allied Market Research offered a proprietary research method.
How much have you invested in them?
We spent $8,700.
What is the status of this engagement?
I purchased the report in August 2020, and they delivered the report in October 2020. Since October 2020, I’ve been waiting for an answer.
On December 29, 2020, I got an apology saying that the seniors were out of the office because of the holidays, but I’d receive an answer after January 1st, but there hasn’t been an answer.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.
I had to deliver a report to my client, and I didn’t so it really caused a strain in our partnership. It’s very likely that I’ll have to reimburse them out of my pocket for the expense they made. I had to cover the costs.
However, the most critical thing is had I taken Allied Market Research’s information as correct, my client would have embarked on a bigger inventory than they should have. Fortunately, I was able to catch that it was wrong and sorted it out for my client. If it was purchased by them directly, they’d have made a decision with the wrong information at hand.
I can’t speak for the thousands of reports Allied Market Research has in their library, but I can speak for this one, and it is completely wrong. They’re offering a product that is incorrect. My biggest concern, from an ethical standpoint, is that I don’t know how they can continue to sell something that has been proved to be wrong and is misleading. For me, it is just wrong that they send someone from the sales department to keep customers at bay and with promises, but they don’t do it.
How was project management handled?
We had calls, emails, and a couple of Zoom meetings.
Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?
Their only strength is their salesperson. He kept track and was very nice and helpful. I felt that he was really interested. However, to be frank, I wouldn’t recommend them at all and wouldn’t buy from them again. I’d probably hire the salesperson to sell something that’s a good product. He believes in what he’s selling, but Allied Market Research kept making promises they couldn’t deliver on.
In what specific areas can they improve?
The actual product. Their product is a scam.
What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?
I wish I had known that the quality was going to be that poor. If I had done the 14-day trial, I would’ve realized how bad the quality was.
RATINGS
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Quality
1.0Service & Deliverables
-
Schedule
1.0On time / deadlines
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Cost
1.0Value / within estimates
-
Willing to Refer
n/aNPS
