The term “life hacking” has been around for a while now. For the uninitiated this refers to any trick, shortcut, skill or novelty that increases productivity and efficiency in all walks of life. In 2014, as time continues to remain such a precious commodity, any way of reducing time spent on tasks is very much welcomed. From making a natural alternative to fabric conditioner using salt to editing Google docs, there is a hack available. As the time and pressure for results is paramount to any business, and I am sure that demand will only increase in the coming years, finding the right market research as quickly as possible is imperative. MarketResearch.com's Profound solution provides users with numerous tools and capabilities to help streamline your search for reports.
So, to help you take even greater advantage of Profound's capabilities, here are my five Profound “hacks” to make you a little more efficient and maybe buy you some time back....
1. What’s your preference?
Ever been into My Preferences or even thought about checking it out? Well, you should. In your preferences, you can pre-set the default charge back code, your sort preference (relevance, price or published date newest to oldest) as well as other valuable customization features—features that you can personalise to ensure Profound is working the way you want it to.
2. Find it faster.
If you spend much time constructing your search, hack straight to Profound's Advanced Search feature. You can use the extra fields to laser in on the single most relevant report containing the data you need. This may require some training, which is a great investment for the future and will save you time in the long term. Remember, there are search tips available on all the search-related pages, use them.
3. Get trained.
I have spent many hours training sales people, and a common response I often here is “I used to do that” or “I’d forgotten that.” Over time and through familiarity with a product or technique, things just get lost sometimes. Whether you are a new user or have used Profound for a period of time, an investment in training will highlight ways you can become more efficient and thorough. All users of Profound have access to free training, take us up on that.
4. Distribute content straight from Profound.
This saves time as you are not required to save files to your desktop, switch application to email, attach the files etc. Simply select (tick) the report(s) of interest from the results page and click on email. Here, you have preferences to include costs or keyword in context (KWIC), and you can add your personal notes for the recipient. You can also do this from any table of contents page.
5. Use all the resources available to you.
As a Profound user, you have access to the wealth of knowledge and experience via your Account Manager and our helpdesk. Contact details can be found on the "Contact Us" page via Profound or save our number in the speed dial option on your phone. Call us or drop us an email; we are here to assist in all research-related matters.
For anyone who is interested in fabric conditioner, TechNavio say in their 2014 report Global Fabric Conditioner Market 2014-2018 that, due to increased competition and the emergence of private labels in the market, vendors are under pressure not only to retain, but also to increase their customer base. Watch out Henkel, Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive, the market could be reshaped if the homemade natural alternative using salt and essential oils hack takes off. You were warned!
For more tips and tricks on using our Profound solution, check out some of our other related blog posts.
Thanks for reading!
Jason Ward
Director, International Sales,
MarketResearch.com
