FAQs - Smart Digital Planning Consulting

ANSWERS TO

QUESTIONS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

There are a few frerequently asked questions about Smart Digital Planning data collection, survey, business insights and goal management services. You can always reach out if you have more questions. Please contact us.

What type of companies do you work with?

We work with a variety of companies. Part of the benefit of working with an outside resource is getting a fresh perspective. We will examine your business from a new angle. Our process is about gathering and uncovering information. It can be any legitimate business. Also, our consultations are scalable based upon the size of your business, but we target working with companies with 5 to 5000 employees. If it’s a larger company then we would focus on a division or a brand within the organization.

What are custom insights?

Custom insights are realizations about your business related to current conditions impacting your business. It’s detective work on uncovering new opportunities or getting to root causes for challenges by examining data. These business insights help to provide clarity on your path moving forward. They are ah-ha moments with recommendations on how they can be leveraged. They give your executive team and employees specific areas of your business to focus upon and clear away the distractions. Then your team can apply their experience and knowledge to craft specific goals and solutions to activate these insights. We use the upfront Discovery process to make sure we have targeted the areas of your business most important . Whether your business is growing, stagnant or declining this investment will provide you high-level insights that will give you a roadmap on how to move forward.

Example of a custom insight:

Customer expectations have shifted and your value-added feature is now considered a commodity. It is no longer differentiating your product in the market and justifying a premium price. With this type of information you really need to understand what is happening in the market and with your customer to determine your next move…. Do you have the margins to lower your price, capacity to increase production, demand to increase sales, or do you need to innovate and are there trends in other industries your can apply? So many considerations… but this is where the custom insights give you an advantage. We look under a microscope to help guide you to potential solutions based upon what we see in the data research of your business, customers, market conditions and trends. Our research will provide answers that help minimize the risk of executive decision making.

How long does a consultation take?

Our consulting services require a commitment from our clients to engage in the process and provide information in a timely manner. We do our best to gather information in the most efficient way possible so we can leverage it quickly and easily for your benefit. To get the most value from the process we will set upfront expectations on the time commitment required so the results are optimal.

Consultation timeframes can vary based upon the level of service. Each consultation will be accompanied with a timeline for the services, collection periods, etc. which will be provided in the initial agreement. If there is urgency, we will evaluate the options to expedite the process. Most consulting agreements will fall between 6-12 weeks.

Do we need a customer mailing list?

Ideally, your mailing list is preferred to reach the target customers. However, your target customers can be reached on social media, your website, or responses can be purchased for an additional fee. All businesses should consider building a customer list with contact data, minimally an email address for a variety of benefits. Communication strategies with your customers can build customer affinity and loyalty.

How are custom surveys sent?

Surveys are sent via email using a link to the survey collection page. These emails are sent by the client. This makes the most sense for several reasons. Smart Digital Planning will provide the link to the survey or will provide an embed code for the client to create a survey landing page. If the participants are a list that has been purchased, deployment will depend on the terms of the list.

How is the data stored?

The survey data is stored by the third-party survey hosting company or if downloaded, Google Business workspace files. Survey data is not stored on the smartdigitalplanning.com website. We minimize the exposure of sharing client data for their protection as well as to build a trusting long lasting business partnership.

How is the data shared?

The survey data is shared by the company as they see fit. You will own your survey data. Smart Digital Planning will only use survey data aggregated with other survey data. We will not use your data individually or share your data.

Can we conduct meetings in person?

Meeting are planned to be virtual and we have made accommodations in our process to make these meetings as interactive as face to face meetings. However, we know some business owners really prefer to get in the same room. We can accommodate these requests but they will include additional fees for travel and supplies.