Successful businesses have extensive knowledge of their customers and their competitors. The level of complexity used in your market research campaign is up to you, as market research can cover a broad spectrum of activities. You can undertake simple activities that can be done on your own, such as creating a short customer satisfaction questionnaire or studying demographic data for your area, or undertake complex ones that require assistance from a professional market research firm. Regardless of the size of your market research budget, the time you have available or your level of experience, some form of market research is possible and it can help you to improve your business decisions.
In an interview with Insights Success, Matloob Hasan, Research Director at Azoth Analytics has given some insightful answers highlighting the influences made by his company to take Market research assets to an innovative level.
- Kindly tell us about your company.
Azoth Analytics is a business research and analytics company that creates in-depth research reports and provides customized research solutions and consultancy services. The verticals in which Azoth Analytics specializes include healthcare and pharmaceutical, oil and gas, retail, chemicals, automotive, FMCG, food & beverages and technology.
The company was established in October 2015 and the basic idea behind the formation of the company was to create an entity that can work closely with the clients to meet their specific research requirements. And over the last two and a half years, we have been able to create certain key „client accounts‟ who value our expertise. This has been made possible because of our dedicated employees and the strategic advices and recommendations of our directors, Mr. Subhodeep Sen and Mr. Sanjeev Srivastava.
- What kind of services and solutions does your company provide that makes you stand out from the competitors?
As mentioned earlier, we are focused on two types of services – syndicated or off the-shelf reports and customized research services. The syndicated reports are targeted towards customers who need immediate solutions or business insights. This “immediate requirement” could be because of the need of knowledge on an immediate basis about their competitors, suppliers or the overall dynamics of the industry in which they are operating. The gaps in the syndicated reports are fulfilled by our customized research solutions, which are tailor-made and caters to the specific research requirements. This part of research is time-driven, very exhaustive in nature, needs deeper insights and hence requires higher budgets from the clients.
How we stand out in the crowd of competitors? This is an interesting question. There are two aspects to it. One, the volume of work is increasing in the field of research and analytics and therefore, there is work for every analyst firm that has the required skill sets and capabilities. Two, most analytics firms work on the premise of creating data points on very superficial level banking mostly on the secondary sources of information. We have positioned ourselves in a very short period of time, as a firm that makes the data and statistics speak about the industry or the sector. And this has been made possible because of the fact that we believe in interacting with the people who are actually operating in that particular industry or the sector. We interact with industry experts (people from associations and companies) and we get the insights from them which are real-time and highly updated.
- What are the current trends followed by the Business and Commercial Law companies?
The business research and analytics space (in which Azoth Analytics operate) used to be highly unorganized around a decade ago with many small companies popping up like mushrooms that grow and spread all over in humid and moist places. But like every industry, it has begun to take shape over the years and moving over to more organized and structure space. And with it, the companies are more focused towards certain niche segments and specific client base. And as a result, we are witnessing research and analytics companies positioning themselves in specific verticals like Healthcare, Power, and Automotive etc.
Also, companies are becoming more client specific, which means focused on certain client base like the government or operating as vendors of outsourced work from big consulting firms like KPMG, Deloitte, Accenture, Ronald Berger, Ernst & Young and PwC. Another trend that is noteworthy and being followed by a select few business research and analytics firms is leveraging their client base and expanding their reach to the „conference industry‟, wherein highly skilled subject experts and people from the same industry are brought in one platform to share knowledge and expertise.
- Briefly, tell us about the Managing Director of the company.
I am associated with the business research and analytics industry since 2003 when I joined RocSearch, a company promoted by UK-based entrepreneurs who wanted to create a “knowledge processing centre” in India. After learning the fundamentals of research and analytics, I ventured into creating a small boutique firm called Koncept Analytics, with two of my colleagues. The firm specialized in creating syndicated reports and later on we felt the need of providing more customized research and advisory solutions. And then Azoth Analytics was built in 2015. An Insan School Kishanganj alumni, studied economics from AMU, Aligarh, MBA from Birla Institute of Management Technology, New Delhi, I am back to learning, which I love most, as I am enrolled in the PhD programme of Faculty of Management Studies, AMU. The title of my research is “Factors Affecting InFlight Service Quality, Passenger Satisfaction and Re-Flying Intention: An Empirical Study”.
- Kindly brief us about the unique strategies that you use in your company.
We are striving to create a place for ourselves by working on projects which requires us to work on very niche areas of an industry and to deliver in tighter deadlines. This specialty has shaped our strategy to associate with top consulting firms like Deloitte and Roland Berger, who outsource a certain part of their ongoing projects. Secondly, as mentioned earlier, we explore the markets at a very in-depth level before giving our recommendations.
- How do you work on your long-term relationship with your clients?
After the completion of a project, we take feedback from our clients related to the quality of deliverables, the timelines and meeting the project scope. This is the best method to retain a customer base. But for all practical purposes, loyalty comes from deeper customer satisfaction.
- Kindly brief us about the most satisfactory experience with a client. What kind of game-changing services have you provided them?
Among the many projects, one outstanding project for which we received tremendous applause from our client was related to the analysis of Engineered Quartz market of the five US regions for different patterns and pricing bands. We believe the complete assessment through primary interviews at the manufacturer, distributors and retailers level helped us to provide the insights that the client expected.
- What are the values and factors that you attribute your success to? Also, suggest the one quote which adorns your company very well.
A disciplined workforce who values the company as much as you do is the core of any services firm. And I firmly believe the company’s success lies in its employee’s dedication towards work and quest for knowledge. “We like to get into the skin of things and this is what our clients expect from us”…
- What are the future advancements of your company and how well equipped are you?
Becoming a vertical specialist will be the key direction for the company and this will require specific skills and knowledge. We are very much focused in this direction.
